Ken-Betwa linking project: Experts claim project ‘politically motivated’, shouldn’t have been approved | India News

PM Narendra Modi at Khajuraho throughout inauguration of Ken Betwa hyperlink project (File photo- PTI)

Environmentalists and coverage consultants have raised issues over the Ken-Betwa river-linking project, accusing the federal government of continuing with it on account of “political motivations.” They argue that the project ought to by no means have been approved within the first place.
The project, which was approved by the Union Cabinet in December 2021 at a value of Rs 44,605 crore and launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2024, goals to attach the Ken and Betwa rivers—tributaries of the Yamuna.
The authorities claims that the project will irrigate 10.62 lakh hectares of land (8.11 lakh hectares in Madhya Pradesh and a couple of.51 lakh hectares in Uttar Pradesh), present ingesting water to round 62 lakh individuals, and generate 103 megawatts of hydropower and 27 megawatts of solar energy.
Estimates recommend that the project will displace 6,600 households and consequence within the chopping down of round 45 lakh timber.
Water professional Himanshu Thakkar whereas talking at a public dialogue on “Assessing the River Interlinking Project,” criticized the project and mentioned that whereas it’s offered as an answer to Bundelkhand’s water disaster, the “detailed project report says that this project’s primary objective is to provide water to the upper Betwa region, which is not part of Bundelkhand.”
“Essentially, this project is facilitating the export of water from Bundelkhand,” he added.
Thakkar, the coordinator of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP), highlighted that the Supreme Court-mandated Central Empowered Committee (CEC) had delivered a important report on the project, however it was ignored.
He additionally referenced the Forest Advisory Committee’s (FAC) advice in May 2017, which said that “ideally, this project should not be given a clearance.” Thakkar pointed out that the FAC had never written such a strong objection before.
Thakkar also recalled a 2016 incident when then-water resources minister Uma Bharti had “threatened to go on a strike” if the project did not receive clearance.
Additionally, Shashi Shekhar, a former secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources, argued that the region’s hydrology does not justify a project of such scale.
“They have justified it by manipulating data. If you consider the correct data, the ground reality and ecological factors, this project should not have gone through,” he mentioned to PTI.
Shekhar additionally questioned the federal government’s claim that the project would irrigate 10.62 lakh hectares, calling it “popping out of the air” and inconsistent with the ground reality. He also criticized the Supreme Court for failing to act despite the CEC’s objections and the known ecological concerns.
When asked whether the Jal Shakti Ministry had explored alternative solutions for Bundelkhand’s water crisis, Shekhar responded, “To the most effective of my data, the alternate options had been by no means mentioned.”
Jasbir Singh Chouhan, the former principal chief conservator of forests in Madhya Pradesh, also expressed that experts had warned against the project, but the government proceeded anyway.
One of the most contentious aspects of the project is the construction of a dam on the Ken River inside the Panna National Park and Tiger Reserve, which faced local tiger extinction in 2009 but has since seen a successful tiger reintroduction program.
“As far as wildlife is anxious, it will likely be an enormous loss to a spot that revived its tiger numbers after fully dropping the large cat,” Chouhan said to PTI.
According to the Centre’s National Tiger Conservation Authority’s “Status of Tigers – 2022” report, the Panna Tiger Reserve is connected to the Ranipur Tiger Reserve in Uttar Pradesh through the North Panna and Satna forest divisions. It is also linked to the Bandhavgarh and Noradehi wildlife sanctuaries to the south, providing an extensive tiger habitat.
“The present estimated inhabitants of tigers on this block is 79 people occupying an space of two,840 sq. kilometres. This represents a major improve within the tiger inhabitants and vary enlargement,” The report said.
“A substantial portion of the biodiverse Panna Tiger Reserve is currently under the threat of submersion due to the proposed Ken-Betwa river-linking project, which poses a significant risk to the conservation efforts in the area,” the report further added.
Chouhan further warned that at least three to four tigresses live in the area that would be submerged by the dam, resulting in significant habitat loss. He also mentioned that around a million trees are expected to be felled in the core tiger area alone. Additionally, the tiger reserve is home to a critically-endangered vulture population.
An expert body under the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife had also called for “an impartial hydrological examine of the river Ken” and stated that “no developmental project ought to destroy the ecology of the remnant fragile ecosystems and an necessary tiger habitat within the nation.”