The Hindustan Times, a leading newspaper, reported on May 20, 2026, that twice this season the country’s highest daily temperature has been recorded in the city of Banda, located close to the Ken river in Uttar Pradesh, in the Bundelkhand region (which comprises 14 districts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh). In their report titled ‘India’s hottest district shuts at 10am’, Haidar Naqvi and Rajeev Mullick said that on May 19 (48.2°C) and on April 27 (47.6°C) the city had recorded the highest temperature in India. The report also drew attention to some of the man-made causes of increasing heat—mining and blasting (including the kind of mining that is banned or restricted but continues on a large scale), dust and debris clouds, river degradation and huge reduction in dry-season water, steep groundwater decline (one important factor being reduced recharge from rivers and streams) and deforestation.
Another report in The Times of India by Mohita Tiwari and Mohsin Usman on May 20, titled ‘World’s hottest city in UP—what is making Banda unbearably hot?’, stated that not just national but even global heat records are being breached in Banda district and city (the report mentioned not just the city but also the district, which includes many villages).
Those familiar with the debate on climate change and global warming discourse would immediately identify the situation with this context, but it is also important to remember that along with global phenomena and trends, we need to look at more location-specific problems.
In fact, precisely because there are global trends towards warming and more adverse situations (such as more erratic rain patterns, something that is very important for the villages of Banda district and neighbouring areas), there is a need to create more favourable micro-climates with more greenery, trees and water sources. This would be very helpful not just for people but for animals and birds as well. In addition, it is important to ensure that the weakest sections of people are protected from the kind of oppressive situations and poverty that can force them to toil in very hot weather conditions.
This is why, in my extensive writings on this region, I have focused on justice for the poorest people along with ecological rehabilitation (particularly checking deforestation and indiscriminate mining).
As a member of a team of the National Human Rights Commission, along with senior (retired) police officer Chaman Lal (who distinguished himself as a ‘friend of the people’ while working successfully in very difficult conditions in Punjab and Nagaland, and later became one of the very few police officers to receive a prestigious civil liberties award), we prepared a report based on these aspects for the hilly and plateau region locally called Patha (which was earlier a part of Banda district but was subsequently included in the new district of Chirakut).
I have also been arguing strongly for protecting the rivers of this region, including several smaller tributaries, some of which are on the verge of disappearing. In my writings, I pleaded strongly for checking indiscriminate and destructive sand mining in rivers. In 2023, I made an appeal for protecting the river Ken. Earlier, a study by IIT Delhi and Vigyan Shiksha Kendra had made a very strong case for checking deforestation and indiscriminate mining. That report also emphasised the need for protection of rivers. These rivers are a part of the great heritage of the Ganga-Yamuna system, as they ultimately flow into the Yamuna, which forms the northern boundary, approximately, of the Bundelkhand region.
While the famous Ganga and Yamuna rivers have at least received some attention regarding their protection, several of their important tributaries have been badly neglected, even at a time when their protection needs urgent attention. Ultimately, of course, this neglect of tributaries will prove very harmful for the Ganga-Yamuna river system as well.
River Ken deserves special attention among the various tributaries of the Yamuna. It is a lifeline for a large number of people in the Bundelkhand region, and at the same time it has been badly threatened in recent times by sand mining, while its future is threatened by a proposed non‑rational diversion of its water.
Sand mining has taken place in the Ken far beyond sustainable levels and accepted environmental norms, using heavy machinery. The heavy machinery frequently digs deep into the river‑bed, and for this purpose temporary bund‑making is done to check the flow of water. This has several impacts: it can deplete water in the dry season while increasing the threat of erosion and floods at the time of rains. The river’s capacity to absorb and retain water, to link with groundwater aquifers, and to replenish them when they need water, is adversely affected.
The increasing turbidity created by machinery, bunds, and removal of sediments is all harmful to aquatic diversity; fish and other species may perish in large numbers or suffer a gradual decline. The water needs of human beings, farm and domesticated animals, as well as wildlife in the vast area around the river banks, are adversely affected.
This is particularly true of the Bundelkhand region, where the number of stray cattle is very high and their dependence on river water for quenching thirst is often critical. If the river is badly depleted in the dry months, this can be disastrous for a large number of stray animals, while at the same time difficulties for farm and dairy animals also increase. In the past, there have been reports of a large number of animals in this region dying due to water shortage and acute thirst in drought years and summer months of intense heat.
Hence, it is important to take steps to check highly destructive sand mining on the Ken, its tributaries, and other rivers. Sustained efforts are certainly needed to protect and save this river.
There is an increasing trend of water depletion in the Ken during the lean season, and this could reach alarming levels once the plans to withdraw a large amount of its water are finalised. The water availability for farmers and vegetable growers who depend on the Ken and its tributaries has already been adversely affected at a time when water is badly needed for farming.
I visited some remote villages close to the Ken to speak to small farmers, particularly those from the Kewat community, who in mythology and ancient literature are mentioned as having a very helpful and affectionate relationship with Lord Ram. I learned that their livelihoods, based on farming close to the river, have been very adversely affected in recent years. I went there to help a family affected by a sudden fire, and we were on the verge of taking more welfare steps when our activities had to cease due to some threatening moves.
In the context of the already depleted flows of the Ken and its tributaries in the dry season, what is extremely worrying is that there are ongoing plans to withdraw a lot of water from the Ken under the Ken‑Betwa river link project, using a 220‑km long canal. Either such water may simply not be available, or if an effort to transfer water from the Ken is still made, then the Ken’s lean flow is likely to be further adversely affected, and like its tributaries, the main river may dry up in certain stretches during the dry season.
What an important report titled ‘Strategies for Water and Food Security in Bundelkhand in the face of Climate Change’ by Prof. Brij Gopal, Prof. Dinesh K. Marothia and Prof. Bhartendu Prakash (2017) has stated in this context is very relevant:
“Ironically, the Ken‑Betwa Link project is being promoted to provide irrigation and drinking water to some parts of Bundelkhand, without realising the gravity of the situation that the river Ken, which is assumed to have ‘surplus’ flow, had gone bone dry for two years for most of its reaches except the deep rocky pools. And, if that is not sufficient ground to think over the management strategy, the project is designed to create a 78‑m deep reservoir with a submergence area of over 100 sq km of Panna’s dense and biodiversity‑rich forest (an estimated more than 2.3 million trees with a girth of more than 20 cm). The impacts of such large‑scale destruction of forests and loss of standing carbon stock for climate change can be understood by any novice in the field but are grossly ignored… Finally, the river may not have enough water to feed the link canal system if the projections of climate change also become reality.”
Trees are most important for water conservation, so how can a project aimed at solving water scarcity start with the deliberately inflicted loss of several hundred thousand trees? If very little water is available in the river and its canal system, this will have a very adverse impact on farming, and a very large number of farmers and vegetable growers, including those who specialise in growing crops like watermelons and musk melons (tarbuj‑kharbuj) on the river‑bank, will be affected very badly.
The same study has stated, summarising the research of several experts: “Analysis of trends of rainfall over the past more than a century shows that in the Ken river basin the frequency of droughts has doubled whereas the total annual rainfall is declining.”
In such conditions, any decision to continue large‑scale legal or illegal mining, to plan for transfer of Ken’s water to another river, and to inflict massive loss of trees as a part of the same project, is surely going to have very disturbing and disruptive impacts for the environment as well as for livelihoods. One can imagine the very harmful impact on fish and other river‑life if and when the river goes dry for several stretches.
Hence, many‑sided steps to protect the Ken are needed on an urgent basis, and a strong public campaign for this is also needed. In addition, steps for the protection of all rivers of this region and for the rejuvenation of threatened rivers are needed. Strong steps are also needed for the restoration and renovation of this region’s rich water heritage of water tanks, ponds and similar water bodies, as well as wells. Increased planting of indigenous tree species and protection of all existing natural forests should get high priority. Protecting the sustainable livelihoods of villagers, and particularly the weakest sections, should get high priority.
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The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Planet in Peril, Protecting Earth for Children, Man over Machine, and A Day in 2071
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