WHILE local administration reports that relief has been distributed to eligible families, activists including leader Amit Bhatnagar continued to press for accountability, transparency, and a review of the revised rehabilitation packages and on Tuesday night several protesters were arrested. Displaced villagers and tribal families in Panna and Chhatarpur districts have been staging the Chita Andolan (funeral pyre protest) for the past 18 days demanding fair compensation, transparent land surveys, and proper rehabilitation linked to infrastructure projects like the Ken–Betwa Link Project and Majhgawan Dam. Amit Bhatnagar accused the Panna administration of using violence to suppress the protest.

 

Amit Bhatnagar in a statement shared with ‘The Hitavada’ said, “ I announce my arrest along with my colleagues in protest against it. The movement will not stop because of repression. The indefinite hunger strike will continue even in jail. This is not merely an injustice against these people; it is an attack on democracy. There should be a nationwide movement against this.” Despite rain in the region, villagers displaced by the project have been protesting in Bahnari Taparia village in Ajaygarh. On the other side, experts find the Ken-Betwa Link Project beneficial to several water-deficit villeges in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh as it is designed to transfer surplus water from the Ken River in Madhya Pradesh to the Betwa River in Uttar Pradesh.