The opposition to the 230-kilometer-long Ken-Betwa river linking project by the people of Bundelkhand have got a new leader in the form of former maharani of the erstwhile princely state of Panna, Dilhar Kumari. Ecologists are opposing the project for its severe environmental impact.
Dilhar Kumari of the princely state of Panna, which once ruled over the entire Bundelkhand region and was entitled for an 11-gun salute by British authorities, has formally hit the roads through an organisation called Panna Vikas Manch. Last week, she led a protest march against the river-linking project after submitting a memorandum to the district collector.
Arun Singh, a social worker from Panna, said, “It is for the first time that rajmata had come on streets to protest against the river-linking project.” Rajmata Dilhar Kumari is a member of the BJP and had contested elections two decades ago on a BJP ticket.
The first of its kind river-linking project, at an estimated cost of Rs 18,000 crore, the Ken-Betwa project was initiated in 2005 by the UPA government. It was conceptualised previously by the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
An agreement between the state of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh was signed in August 2005. Mulayam Singh Yadav was UP chief minister while MP was represented by Babulal Gour in presence of then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The project is a part of an ambitious project of the Government of India to link the 14 Himalayan and 16 peninsular rivers by 30 canals and 3,000 reservoirs to irrigate 87 million hectares of parched land in various parts of the country.
The project is supposed to irrigate 6.35 lakh hectares in six areas of the Bundelkhand region. Some 78 megawatts of power will also be produced from the project. Technically, the Ken-Betwa link project is to divert the surplus waters of Ken basin to the water-deficient Betwa basin.
The dam is vehemently being opposed by the people of Panna, where 90 square km of land, including 61 sq km of core tiger habitat in the 543 sq km Panna Tiger Reserve, will be submerged. An estimated 2.3 million trees have to be felled when the project is completed. The environmental clearance to the project was being opposed by forest authorities. Panna Tiger Reserve has been in the news for the past few years when many tigers died in the protected areas such as the Sariska sanctuary in Rajasthan.
Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti and National Water Development Agency (NWDA) are pushing the project with great force. Bharti hails from the same Bundelkhand region and expects a huge advantage to the region she represents. The districts of Chhatarpur and Tikamgarh (home district of Bharti) and Mahoba, Jhansi and Banda districts of Uttar Pradesh will get water for irrigation and drinking. Approximately 14 lakh people in the region will be directly benefitted.
A huge 73 m earthen dam on river Ken in Panna will facilitate water in the canal to join with Betwa river near Jhansi (the Lok Sabha constituency of Bharti in UP).
According to government sources, the only solution to recurring droughts in Bundelkhand is to link the two rivers in Madhya Pradesh and divert water to Mahoba, Banda and Jhansi of Uttar Pradesh through canals.
People in various parts of Bundelkhand have complained through written petitions that their views were not taken into consideration when the project report was being made. They said that they were not even consulted during the process of granting environmental clearance, which requires a gram sabha.
In a statement Dilhar Kumari said “With the proposed river-linking project and dam, the tiger and its habitat will reach the town limits of Panna. The natives of our district have already suffered with the Tiger reserve and now this dam will further stunt our growth.”
She said the 427-kilometer-long Ken river is the most pristine and unpolluted river in the country. The people of Panna have first right over it. “With this, we will not only lose this river, but 200 species of trees and precious flora and fauna will also be lost. We do not want displacement of our people”, she said.
Panna Vikas Manch on June 6 had submitted a memorandum to the government to stop proceeding with this project. Last week, when Dilhar Kumari herself led the protest march thousands of citizens of Panna came out in her support.
