Violence erupted after a police team was pelted with stones at Daudhan village in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhatarpur district, the latest flashpoint in a months-long confrontation between the administration and tribal families facing displacement because of the Ken-Betwa river-linking project — one of the Union government’s flagship water infrastructure programmes.
The immediate trigger for the violence that took place on Wednesday was an anti-encroachment and demolition exercise carried out near the Daudhan dam site, where officials, accompanied by police personnel, arrived to remove houses and structures on land already acquired for the project. According to the administration, the operation targeted homes belonging to families that had already accepted compensation and relocated, as well as vacant structures standing on acquired government land. Officials said the intention was to clear the area and persuade remaining residents to vacate voluntarily.
“The Ken Betwa river linking project is underway. Our assessment stated that some villages will be impacted by rising water levels, so we undertook a demolition exercise on the homes of villagers who have already accepted the compensation and wanted to move out. We demolished a home with the help of police and forest guards. Some villagers conspired to pelt stones at police. Police are identifying the accused based on the videos and filing an FIR against them,” said Chattarpur Collector Parth Jaiswal.
The Collector said the administration had taken precautions in advance, including informing villagers about the demolition drive by holding discussions with the impacted villagers and other local janpad officials to tell them that only those who received compensation and consented to the demolition would be affected by the drive.
But villagers alleged that the demolition was carried out without adequate warning and while people were still inside some of the houses. Videos that spread rapidly on social media purportedly showed a tribal family, including children, lying amid the debris of a demolished structure. In one of the videos, villagers can be seen pulling people out from under the rubble while a man cries for help and says they were being crushed inside their home.
The administration disputed the claims and insisted that nobody was injured. Officials alleged that the red stains visible in the videos were paint and not blood. District authorities said the family shown in the video had been made to lie in the debris deliberately to create panic and mobilise resistance against the demolition exercise.
“Before we demolished that home, we took precautions like videography of the inside of the dwelling to ensure that no villager was present inside. We found in our investigation that the person seen lying in the rubble used artificial colours on him. Furthermore, despite some claiming that compensation was not received, we investigated the records and found that Rs 12 lakh was granted to the affected persons,” Jaiswal said.
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But by the time officials issued their clarification, the videos had already spread widely across WhatsApp groups and social media platforms across Bundelkhand, fuelling outrage in nearby villages already tense over the project’s rehabilitation process.
As news spread that a family had allegedly been trapped inside a collapsing structure, villagers gathered in large numbers at the site and surrounded officials. Stone pelting followed, forcing administrative and police teams to retreat. Several government vehicles, including those belonging to senior police and revenue officials, were damaged along with a JCB machine used in the demolition exercise. Authorities later announced that cases would be registered over the attack on government property.
Deeper conflict
The confrontation was rooted in a deeper conflict over land acquisition, compensation and displacement linked to the Ken-Betwa project. The Daudhan dam, which forms the core of the project, is expected to submerge multiple villages in Chhatarpur and Panna districts. Official estimates indicate that 22 villages will be affected and over 7,000 families displaced, with 10 villages facing complete submergence. The project involves constructing a dam on the Ken river and a 221-km canal to transfer water to the Betwa basin, with the stated aim of addressing water scarcity in Bundelkhand.
The project was formally cleared by the Union Cabinet in December 2021 at an estimated cost of over Rs 44,000 crore. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone in December 2024, projecting it as a major solution to chronic drought conditions in Bundelkhand. The government says the project will provide irrigation to more than 10 lakh hectares, drinking water to around 62 lakh people and generate hydroelectric power.
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However, from the beginning, the project has faced resistance from tribal communities and environmental groups. Much of the affected population belongs to Gond and Kol tribal communities whose livelihoods depend on the Ken river, surrounding forests and small-scale farming. Villagers argue that displacement will not simply mean relocation from one settlement to another but the destruction of an entire social and economic ecosystem built around the forest and river.
By April, the agitation had expanded. Villagers started a march towards Delhi before being stopped by police. Protest camps emerged near the dam site, with large participation by tribal women. Protesters adopted symbolic demonstrations that drew national attention. During the “Chita Andolan”, villagers lay on mock funeral pyres, saying displacement would amount to social death. Other protests included standing waist-deep in the Ken river, smearing soil from their villages on their bodies and fasting campaigns. Slogans demanding “justice or death” became central to the movement.
These protests were temporarily suspended on April 16 after district officials assured villagers that grievances regarding compensation and rehabilitation would be reconsidered. Authorities promised a fresh survey to identify left-out beneficiaries and address complaints about compensation calculations. But villagers say little changed on the ground after those assurances, and mistrust between residents and the administration continued to grow.
Rehabilitation package
At the centre of the dispute is the rehabilitation package offered by the state government. Officials say compensation has been awarded according to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. The package includes compensation for private land, houses and structures, rehabilitation grants and optional urban or rural plots. The government claims that more than Rs 700 crore has already been disbursed and that most affected families have accepted compensation.
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But villagers and activists allege widespread irregularities. Many claim eligible families were excluded from rehabilitation lists because of outdated cutoff dates or survey errors. Others allege that compensation assessments were arbitrary and lacked transparency. Protesters have demanded “land for land” rehabilitation within similar forested terrain instead of one-time cash settlements. They argue that cash compensation cannot replace access to forests, rivers, grazing areas and agricultural land that sustain tribal communities.
