Chita Andolan over Ken–Betwa Rehabilitation

Context

The Pyre Protest or Chita Andolan, which was started in July 2026 on the banks of Barana River in Madhya Pradesh, resumed. Tribal women and local farmers are protesting severe delays and irregularities in rehabilitation, compensation, and resettlement caused by the Ken–Betwa Link Project (KBLP).

Understanding the ‘Chita Andolan’

The Chita Andolan is an extreme type of peaceful, symbolic protest by the tribal groups mainly Gond and Kol, along with the Jai Kisan Sangathan.

Nature of the Protest

• Symbolism: Protesters lie or sit next to funeral pyres with the phrase “Provide us justice or death”.
• Core Philosophy: Forcing their way out of the ancestral lands, the thick forests and river ecosystems are a cultural, social and economic death sentence.

Core Grievances

• Forced Evictions: Villagers allege forced house demolitions by authorities before setting up basic infrastructure at resettlement sites.
• Faulty Remuneration: There is a lot of criticism about the monetary compensation received being inadequate to buy comparable land with fertile agricultural potential in the market.
• Exclusion from Lists: Thousands of affected families, including newly created nuclear households were initially not placed on official Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) lists.

Profile of the Ken–Betwa Link Project (KBLP)

The KBLP is India’s first major project of interlinking rivers as part of the National Perspective Plan.

• Objective: To divert the “surplus” water from Ken River basin to Betwa River basin, the “deficit” river basin.
• Target Region: Water scarcity in the Bundelkhand area in two districts of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
• Core Infrastructure: Building of the Daudhan Dam (77-metres high) on the Ken River and canal network (221-km) construction.
• Expected Benefits: Irrigation of 10.62 lakh hectares, drinking water for 62 lakh people, and generation of 103 MW of hydropower.

Socio-Economic Dimensions of the Protest

The “Chita Andolan” serves as a reminder of the steep price tag of large-scale infrastructure investments in terms of human lives lost:

• Scale of Displacement: The Daudhan dam is likely to engulf several villages resulting in displacement of more than 6,600 families in Chhatarpur and Panna districts.
• Compromised Rehabilitation: The affected communities claim the administration has not offered a “land-for-land” resettlement plan. Forced evictions occur during monsoons without financial packages or alternative housing solutions, according to families.
• Failure to protect Tribal Rights: Protesters allege ‘community involvement’ was not meaningful. The Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, is a critical issue in connection with the fabricated Gram Sabhas which have been a matter of serious allegations.
• State action: The local administration has taken measures to restrict assembly and to block food and water supply to protest sites, such as Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).

Ecological Concerns

Long-term sustainability issues have been raised by environmentalists and regulators:

• Submergence of Panna Tiger Reserve (PTR): Significant area of the project is within Panna Tiger Reserve. Very important habitat of the tiger, vulture, gharial and jackal will be lost with submergence.
• Deforestation: The project is expected to remove millions of trees — a process that would cease to reverse biodiversity loss.
• Hydrological Assumptions: But whether there really is an “unallocated surplus” of water in the Ken River is open to doubt, as experts such as those from South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP) state. These projections of river flows are very uncertain due to variations caused by climate change.

Way Forward

• Implement and follow the Statutory Frameworks: Comply with the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
• Decentralised water management: Rather than mega-dams, the rehabilitation of the traditional water tanks of the Chandela, farm ponds and local check dams are a less-displacing and more cost effective method of water management in Bundelkhand.
• Independent Environmental Auditing: An objective, reviewed Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) will examine forest clearances to weigh up the needs for infrastructure provision against the environmental commitments to conservation.

Source: TOI

UPSC Practice Question 

Q. Consider the following statements about the Ken–Betwa Link Project:

1. The project aims to generate hydroelectric power from the combined flow of both rivers.
2. Maharashtra and Karnataka are the principal beneficiary states of the project.
3. It is the first river-linking project taken up under the National Perspective Plan.
4. The project is likely to affect the Panna Tiger Reserve.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

(A) Only one
(B) Only two
(C) Only three
(D) All four

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