Police action forces end to tribal protest against MP’s Ken-Betwa project after 15 days
The Madhya Pradesh Police on Sunday (July 19, 2026) morning cleared the site where several tribals have been protesting against the Ken-Betwa river link project
The Madhya Pradesh Police on Sunday (July 19, 2026) morning cleared the site where several tribals have been protesting against the Ken-Betwa river link project and other irrigation projects in Chhatarpur district, and took the protest leader Amit Bhatnagar, who has been on a hunger strike for 14 days, to a hospital. The police also dismantled the protest site, on the banks of Barana river near Kupi village, and symbolic pyres used by the demonstrators, with officers saying that the decision to bring them out of water was taken due to rising water levels after heavy rains in the area. However, several protestors refused to move, accusing the police of forcibly removing them and assaulting women. Videos also showed personnel dragging women away from the shore. VIDEO | Madhya Pradesh police removed protesters and ended the 'satyagraha' that was launched against the Ken-Betwa Link Project and other irrigation schemes.
The protest, mainly by tribal women, was being held on the banks of the Barana river near Kupi village in Chhatarpur… pic.twitter.com/8cyMPglsJm — Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 19, 2026 Chhatarpur Additional SP Aditya Patle said, “He [Mr. Bhatnagar] had been protesting here for many days so a team of doctors had come here with the police and the administration for his basic medical check-up. He himself was interested in this and had contacted [the authorities] that his health was deteriorating a little. So, a team of police force, doctors and administration came here and he has been peacefully sent to the hospital.” Patle also said that the women at the protest site have been dropped to their homes in buses. “This is an under construction bridge here and the water levels of the river are also rising due to rain.
This place is not safe so they were moved from here,” he said, adding that the protesters “cooperated” with the authorities. Videos emerged from the scene showed protestors, mostly women, holding each other in attempts to cross the river amid heavy water flow even as personnel ask them to come ashore. Residents of several villages, mostly tribals from Panna and Chhatarpur districts, had been protesting on the banks of the Barana River near Kupi village for nearly two weeks against the ₹44,000-crore project of the Union Government and various State irrigation projects, with several demonstrators tying nooses around their necks and lying on makeshift pyres in the river in a symbolic protest. The unique demonstration, with the slogan of ‘nyaya do varna maar do [either give us justice or kill us]’, that had been first carried out in April, was relaunched earlier this month after the discussions and government efforts failed to convince the villagers.
The BriefWire