More than 17,000 trees will be cut down in Madhya Pradesh for the Ken-Betwa River Link Project, the Ministry of Jal Shakti informed Parliament on Monday. Out of these, over 12,000 trees are located within the Panna Tiger Reserve, a protected forest area.

Minister of State for Jal Shakti Raj Bhushan Choudhary said the tree cutting is being done to make way for the construction of the Daudhan Dam and other related infrastructure under the project.

“Under the Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP), in the state of Madhya Pradesh, approximately 17,101 trees have been identified for felling to facilitate the execution of the Daudhan Dam and allied infrastructure. Of these, 12,404 trees have been felled within the Panna Tiger Reserve Forest,” the minister stated in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

The ministry also mentioned that there have been no reported objections to the tree-felling activity from any of the responsible authorities. This includes the project authority, the local district administration, and the forest department.

The project is also expected to impact 7,193 families. The governments of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are in charge of land acquisition and resettlement. As per the minister’s reply, compensation and rehabilitation will follow the rules under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.

A special compensation package for affected families was approved by the Madhya Pradesh government in September 2023.

“As per records available at the time of issuance of Section-11 under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (RFCTLARR Act, 2013), the project involves 7,193 project-affected families (PAFs),” Choudhary added.

The government also revealed that out of the total ₹4,469.41 crore allocated for the project in the past three years, ₹3,969.79 crore has already been spent.

The Ken-Betwa Link Project is the first river interlinking scheme under the National Perspective Plan (NPP) to reach the implementation stage. The Centre has prepared detailed reports for 11 other river-linking projects, while several others are still undergoing feasibility studies.

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