A 15-day-long protest against the Ken-Betwa Link Project and other development projects in Madhya Pradesh's Chhatarpur district ended on Sunday after police cleared the demonstration site on the banks of the Barana River near Kupi village. Protesters were subsequently taken back to their respective villages in buses.
The agitation, which began on July 3, was led largely by tribal women. The protesters used several methods of peaceful protest during the demonstration, such as Jal Satyagraha (water protest), Chita Satyagraha (pyre protest) and symbolic hanging protests. The social activist and the face of the protest, Amit Bhatnagar, had been observing an indefinite hunger strike for the past 11 days.
Protesters Allege Police Action Over Rs 400 Crore Complaint
Protest leader Divya Ahirwar stated that a huge police force came here by 5 in the morning and arrested Bhatnagar and many agitators even before they could reach the media. It was said that the protest was started after a complaint of 400 crore rupees regarding the scheme.
However, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Aditya Patle denied that anyone had been arrested or detained. He said the protesters were peacefully transported back to their villages in buses. Those from Panna district were taken there, while others were dropped at locations in Chhatarpur and nearby areas.
"A team of doctors came here along with the police and the administration so that they could conduct a basic medical check-up. The women who were present here were also peacefully seated in buses and dropped back to their homes because this is an under-construction bridge, and due to the rains, the river's water level has risen. Therefore, the area was not considered safe, so they were moved from the site," PTI quoted Patle.
Displacement And Rehabilitation Remain Key Concerns
The protest centred on concerns over displacement and rehabilitation. The protesters claimed that the families impacted by the Ken-Betwa Link Project and the Mazgaon and Runj irrigation schemes were neither properly rehabilitated nor had been served justice.
Bhatnagar alleged that the uprooted communities had been deprived of their lands, forests, waters, ways of life, culture, etc. He also alleged the lodging of false criminal cases against communities by the administration, forced evictions, denial of electricity connection and destruction of the school.
Protesters said the administration’s promise in April remained on paper and said that lists of families affected on a village-wise basis be made available and that people should be allowed to lead their lives free from harassment.
Denying all allegations, the government stated that the project is proceeding as per the law and called it a project of national importance which would boost irrigation, drinking water supply and development of the drought-prone Bundelkhand region spread across the states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.