More than 17,000 trees are set to be cut down in Madhya Pradesh for the Ken-Betwa river interlinking project, according to the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

The trees are being removed to facilitate construction of the Daudhan Dam and related infrastructure under the Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP), the only river-linking project under the National Perspective Plan (NPP) to reach the implementation stage. 

In a written response in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Raj Bhushan Choudhary, stated that no protests have been reported by the project authority, district administration, or forest department regarding the tree felling. Among these, 12,404 trees are located within the Panna Tiger Reserve, a key biodiversity hotspot. Land acquisition and resettlement will be carried out by the Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh governments as per the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.

A special compensation and rehabilitation package was approved in September 2023, and a total of 7,193 families are expected to be affected by the project. Of the Rs 4,469.41 crore allocated for the project in the last three years, Rs 3,969.79 crore has already been spent.

The Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP) is expected to deliver major benefits to the Bundelkhand region by enabling irrigation for 2.51 lakh hectares of agricultural land across the districts of Jhansi, Mahoba, Banda, and Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh. Additionally, it will supply drinking water to 21 lakh residents in these areas.