Ken-Betwa interlinking project "not implementable", would "destroy" Madhya Pradesh tiger reserve: Expert

By A Representative
One of India's topmost conservationists and wildlife experts, Dr MK Ranjitsinh, has said that Phase 1 of the Rs 10,000-crore Ken-Betwa link project – which includes a 230-km canal and a series of barrages and dams linking the rivers – would mean end of the Panna Tiger Reserve of Madhya Pradesh.
Cleared by the National Board for Wildlife, the project is proposes to irrigate more than six lakh hectare (ha) of land in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, but the Daudhan Dam to be built to divert the water of Ken river would submerge a portion of the tiger reserve.
Dr Ranjitsinh's view acquires significance, as he is known to be a principal author of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Belonging to the erstwhile royal family of Wankaner, Saurashtra, Gujarat, he has been a Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer, who dominated the state's forest policies for over two decades.
In an interview to a top site, Dr Ranjitsinh says, the project, floated in 2004 by the AB Vajpayee government, would “bifurcate” and “disembowel” the centre of the park, with the inundation affecting “the connectivity and movement of all animals, including the prey.”
Pointing out that it would “also adversely affect the quality of habitat”, Dr Ranjitsinh says, “The area being submerged is low-lying and being close to the river, it has moisture and supports the growth of grass. As a result there is plenty of food available for herbivores. These include cheetal, neelgai, wild boar and the four–horned antelope.”

Dr MK Ranjitsinh

Pointing out that “the cheetal provide the principle food species for the tiger. I do not see the gene pool getting affected”, Dr Ranjitsinh says, he "expostulated" all these details at both the state wildlife board meetings held under the chairmanship of chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
During the meetings, he says, he also pointed out that the Environment Impact Assessment report for the project does talk about areas under submergence, but “without talking about the canals emanating from the proposed dam or about the colonies of workers that will have to be constructed to build the dam or even of the noise factor that will adversely impact animals.”
“I had told Chouhan that he is wearing two hats, one as chief minister and the other as chairperson of the state wildlife board, which is an advisory body. Let people have a free say. Most of the members on the board are government servants who will not open their mouths”, says Dr Ranjitsinh.
“I told the chief minister, make up your mind – project or park (Panna Tiger Reserve) – you cannot have both”, he says, adding, “My fear is that the chief minister will be left with neither the project nor the park.”
He underlines, “Several water experts have warned against the interlinking of the rivers. They point out that the Ken river itself does not have enough water and the project will prove to be a disaster, thereby worsening the water situation in our country. I am not against projects but projects cannot succeed if there is not enough water.”
Pointing out that the projec is just “an old game being played out by the irrigation department”, Dr Ranjitsinh says, “When I was chairman of the Narmada Valley Development Authority, I told the irrigation experts to put all the cards on the table."
Taking objection to the Narmada dam, he had asked then, he says, "How much will the cost be, how much electricity will it generate, to which the engineers replied, at this rate, the project (to build dams across the river) will not be sanctioned. I regard this as cheating the nation.”

Comments

Plastic burning in homes threatens food, water and air across Global South: Study

By Jag Jivan In a groundbreaking study spanning 26 countries across the Global South , researchers have uncovered the widespread and concerning practice of households burning plastic waste as a fuel for cooking, heating, and other domestic needs. The research, published in Nature Communications , reveals that this hazardous method of managing both waste and energy poverty is driven by systemic failures in municipal services and the unaffordability of clean alternatives, posing severe risks to human health and the environment.

Economic superpower’s social failure? Inequality, malnutrition and crisis of India's democracy

By Vikas Meshram India may be celebrated as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, but a closer look at who benefits from that growth tells a starkly different story. The recently released World Inequality Report 2026 lays bare a country sharply divided by wealth, privilege and power. According to the report, nearly 65 percent of India’s total wealth is owned by the richest 10 percent of its population, while the bottom half of the country controls barely 6.4 percent. The top one percent—around 14 million people—holds more than 40 percent, the highest concentration since 1961. Meanwhile, the female labour force participation rate is a dismal 15.7 percent.

The greatest threat to our food system: The aggressive push for GM crops

By Bharat Dogra Thanks to the courageous resistance of several leading scientists who continue to speak the truth despite increasing pressures from the powerful GM crop and GM food lobby , the many-sided and in some contexts irreversible environmental and health impacts of GM foods and crops, as well as the highly disruptive effects of this technology on farmers, are widely known today.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Stands 'exposed': Cavalier attitude towards rushed construction of Char Dham project

By Bharat Dogra* The nation heaved a big sigh of relief when the 41 workers trapped in the under-construction Silkyara-Barkot tunnel (Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand) were finally rescued on November 28 after a 17-day rescue effort. All those involved in the rescue effort deserve a big thanks of the entire country. The government deserves appreciation for providing all-round support.

'Restructuring' Sahitya Akademi: Is the ‘Gujarat model’ reaching Delhi?

By Prakash N. Shah* A fortnight and a few days have slipped past that grim event. It was as if the wedding preparations were complete and the groom’s face was about to be unveiled behind the ceremonial tinsel. At 3 PM on December 18, a press conference was poised to announce the Sahitya Akademi Awards .

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...

The illusion of nuclear abundance: Why NTPC’s expansion demands public scrutiny

By Shankar Sharma* The recent news that NTPC is scouting 30 potential sites across India for a massive nuclear power expansion should be a wake-up call for every citizen. While the state-owned utility frames this as a bold stride toward a 100,000 MW nuclear capacity by 2047, a cold look at India’s nuclear saga over the last few decades suggests this ambition may be more illusory than achievable. More importantly, it carries implications that could fundamentally alter the safety, environment, and economic health of our communities.

The war on junk food: Why India must adopt global warning labels

By Jag Jivan The global health landscape is witnessing a decisive shift toward aggressive regulation of the food industry, a movement highlighted by two significant policy developments shared by Dr. Arun Gupta of the Nutrition Advocacy for Public Interest (NAPi).

Search This Blog