Chhatarpur (MP), Jul 19: A 15-day protest against the Ken-Betwa Link and other development projects in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhatarpur district ended on Sunday after police cleared the agitation site and sent protesters back to their villages.
Some protesters alleged that the movement leader Amit Bhatnagar was detained, while the police denied making any arrests.
A police official argued that the protest was staged beneath an under-construction bridge and in the river, where rising water levels posed a serious safety risk.
Bhatnagar was hospitalised as he had been on a prolonged hunger strike with deteriorating health, the official added.
The protest, mainly by tribal women, was held for the last fortnight on the banks of the Barana river near Kupi village in Chhatarpur district. Protesters had also launched ‘jal satyagraha’, ‘chita (funeral pyre) satyagraha’ and a symbolic ‘faansi satyagraha’. The agitation was led by Bhatnagar, who staged an indefinite fast for 11 days.
The Ken-Betwa Link Project, the country’s first river interlinking project under the National Perspective Plan, seeks to transfer surplus water from the Ken to the Betwa river to provide irrigation and drinking facilities in the drought-prone Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
The protest, launched on July 3 on the banks of the Barana river near Kupi village, opposed the Ken-Betwa river-linking project and other development works.
The project has drawn opposition from sections of project-affected families and environmental groups over issues relating to displacement, rehabilitation and its impact on forests and wildlife, including parts of the Panna Tiger Reserve.
Bhatnagar had been on an indefinite hunger strike for the past several days, demanding action on alleged irregularities in the implementation of the project and seeking compliance with environmental and legal provisions.
Protest leader Divya Ahirwar alleged that police personnel reached the site in large numbers from around 5 am on Sunday and detained Bhatnagar and other protesters before he could address the media, on what she described as alleged corruption of Rs 400 crore in the project.
The protesters had been demanding that the administration follow the law and ensure the rights guaranteed under the Constitution in implementing the project, she told reporters.
Ahirwar claimed the administration would be responsible if any harm came to Bhatnagar or any of the protesters and appealed to people to speak out against corruption.
Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Aditya Patle told PTI that protesters were taken in buses to their native villages. Those from Panna district were sent there, while those from Chhatarpur and nearby areas were dropped at their respective villages. Patle denied that any protester was arrested or detained.
Asked about the agitation being broken undemocratically, the ASP contended the protest site was beneath a bridge that was under construction. Secondly, he said the protesters were agitating in the river even as the water level was rising, which could have posed a serious risk at any time.
Patle also argued all the protesters were residents of Panna district and, if they had any grievance, they should have staged the protest there as they had no connection with the place where they were demonstrating.
He said Amit Bhatnagar had been on a hunger strike for a considerable period and his health was deteriorating. He was therefore admitted to a hospital. The officer added that all the other protesters were removed and sent away safely.
The agitation had drawn attention over the past fortnight, with protesters alleging violations related to land acquisition, rehabilitation, environmental safeguards and project implementation.
The administration has rejected the allegations and maintained that the project is being executed in accordance with the law. The administration has maintained that the Ken-Betwa Link Project is of national importance and will boost irrigation, drinking water supply, and overall development in the Bundelkhand region.
The demonstrators, however, alleged that assurances given by the administration in April had not been fulfilled.
Bhatnagar claimed that people affected by the Ken-Betwa Link Project, as well as the Majhgaon and Runjh irrigation projects, had been denied justice. He alleged that displaced families had lost their land, forests, water resources, livelihoods and cultural identity, while some had been subjected to false criminal cases, illegal eviction, disconnection of electricity supply and demolition of schools.
He demanded that the administration stop intimidating villagers and publicly display the list of project-affected families in every village. (PTI)
