Centre passes buck to M.P. govt. over tribals’ displacement due to Ken-Betwa project
This comes even as locals and tribal communities in the State’s Chhatarpur district have been protesting against the project for months, accusing authorities of forcibly evicting families even before the full compensation process has been completed
The Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs acknowledged receiving complaints about displacement caused by the Ken-Betwa river linking project in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday (August 6, 2026), but it has delegated responsibility to the Madhya Pradesh government and district authorities for implementing the forest rights law. Tribal communities in Madhya Pradesh's Chhatarpur district have been protesting the project's forced displacement of families.
They accuse authorities of evicting families before completing full compensation, allege irregularities in Gram Sabha consent and compensation selection, and demand each adult be considered a unit for compensation. The Tribal Affairs Ministry has been urging state governments to comply with the Forest Rights Act, which prohibits eviction until the recognition and verification procedure is completed.
They maintain all functions related to forest rights are the responsibility of state governments or project authorities. The Ministry cited a decade-old estimate from the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) regarding the number of affected families in the current phase of the project. The protests, first held in April and relaunched in July, garnered national attention on social media, where demonstrators were seen protesting with symbolic gestures and a hunger strike by activist Amit Bhatnagar, who went on a 14-day hunger strike before being forcibly removed from the protest site by police.
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