Development vs Displacement: The Story of Chita Andolan

Image Credits: By The Times of India

While the rest of the world is dealing with petroleum prices and energy reserves, the Chhatarpur and Panna districts of Madhya Pradesh, India, are facing their own crisis. The tribal women villagers of the Chhatarpur region of Madhya Pradesh lay on funeral pyres to protest the Ken-Betwa Link Project in April 2026. This protest is widely known as “Chita Andolan," or the funeral pyre protest. Hundreds of women gathered, displaying their resistance and projecting their belief that it is a death sentence for their community, families, and livelihood. This demonstration strongly highlights the villagers' concerns, the impact on their families, and the loss of their livelihood. 

The main reason for the widespread protests is the recent Ken-Betwa Link Project. It is the country’s first major national river-interlinking project, planned to transfer surplus water from the Ken River to the Betwa River in Madhya Pradesh. The project aims to provide regional food security, drinking water, and other essential resources for a drought-prone area in the Bundelkhand region, which requires the construction of a dam, the Daudhan Dam, and two power plants, impacting the Panna Tiger Reserve. The construction of the dam will cause damage and displacement for over 24 villages that have been settled in the area for centuries. Out of these 24 villages, eight villages are said to be completely submerged due to the dam, while 16 villages are being incorporated into the Panna Tiger Reserve.

 An interview conducted with Himanshu Thakkar, the coordinator of the South Asian Network of Dams, Rivers, and People, also pointed out that the project lacks public domain hydrological data to justify the surplus water claim. In the interview, he further mentions that the project is being sold in the name of solving Bundelkhand’s water problem, but it actually facilitates the export of water outside of Bundelkhand instead of helping the drought-prone Bundelkhand. 

The villagers are forcefully displaced rather than “voluntary” displacement. The local communities have strongly opposed the settlement and protected their livelihood through campaigning, also performing demonstrations such as Satyagraha (non-violent movement), road blockage, and gheraos in front of the collector's office for almost 2 months. Amit Bhatnagar, a social activist associated with Jai Kisan Sanghatan, has led the movement with the support of thousands of families, especially women. Thousands of women, along with their children, are protesting by lying on the ground as symbolic funeral pyres.  

The protestors widely alleged that they have been restricted from moving to Delhi. Roadblocks were set up, and even rations and water were prevented from being provided to the protesters. Chhatarpur’s collector has also imposed Section 144, which is now Section 163 of the Indian Civil Defence Code 2023. It prohibits the entry of outsiders, restricts assembly, restricts riots, and prevents obstruction or any danger to human life and safety. The villagers show their primary concern about the displacement and their unwillingness to leave. They also demand to be settled in equivalent conditions and provided with sufficient compensation so that they do not suffer from severe problems if relocation is unavoidable.  

They also raise their voices, stating that they had been kept under the shadow of the gram sabha, and assure that the consent from the gram sabha was obtained without public consent. The villagers deeply stressed their concerns about not being heard and being continuously suppressed by the administration. 

The Chita Andolan is not the first movement carried out by residents of an area forcibly displaced for dam construction. Several environmental movements, such as the Bishnoi Movement, the Silent Valley Movement, and the Narmada Bachao Andolan, have been led by affected residents to protect their livelihoods, homes, and sources of income, which they have built over the centuries. The Bishnoi Movement, which took place in Rajasthan, is one of the oldest environmentalist movements, and 363 members of the Bishnoi community sacrificed their lives to protect the Khejri trees. The Narmada Bachao Andolan, another environmental movement, was launched to prevent construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada River in Gujarat. The construction of the dam included the displacement of over thousands of people, without fair compensation or proper resettlement, leading to a lifetime humanitarian crisis.  

Even after months of protest by the villagers, the Ken-Betwa Linking Project is now in its implementation and execution phase. Not just the protests, but the project's ecological impact remains undetermined and poses severe environmental hazards. The project has continuously faced scrutiny for its ecological impact, yet it still continues. It also leads to the submersion of a large area of the Panna Tiger Reserve in the Chhatrapur District of Madhya Pradesh and the felling of more than 1,000 trees. A threat not just to tribal communities but also to forest tigers and the entire biodiversity. 

In conclusion, it can be said that even though the Ken Betwa linking project triumphs, the struggles of the residents fail. Though there is a chance that the project might be successful for some reasons in the district, it has caused severe psychological, physical, and economic problems for the residents of the area. The project not only hampers the residents' lifestyle but also the entire biodiversity, including wildlife, forests, and tigers.  

Written By: Niharika Chauhan Edited By: Nilanjan Jha