Context: Villagers, mostly tribal, protesting the ₹44,000-crore Ken-Betwa Link Project in Madhya Pradesh were forcibly cleared by police after an 18-day hunger strike, with disputes over rehabilitation packages, consent processes, and large-scale tree felling inside the Panna Tiger Reserve. The project is the first of India's proposed river-interlinking schemes under the National Perspective Plan.
Police cleared a protest site in Chhatarpur district, Madhya Pradesh, where tribal villagers had demonstrated for two weeks against the Ken-Betwa Link Project and two state irrigation projects, alleging inadequate rehabilitation and flawed consent processes.
Key GS3 topic on river interlinking, environmental clearances, and displacement/rehabilitation policy; also touches GS2 (federalism, gram sabha consent under PESA/Forest Rights Act) and GS1 (tribal welfare).
National Perspective Plan and river interlinking; Panna Tiger Reserve and Project Tiger; Forest Rights Act, 2006 and gram sabha consent; Rehabilitation and Resettlement policy; Environmental Impact Assessment for large infrastructure projects.
Test your understanding
Q1.The Ken-Betwa Link Project involves constructing which dam as its key infrastructure component?