Chhatarpur: A 15-day protest against the Ken-Betwa Link and other development projects in Madhya Pradesh's Chhatarpur district ended on Sunday after police cleared the agitation site and sent protesters back to their villages.
Some protesters alleged that the movement leader Amit Bhatnagar was detained, while the police denied making any arrests.
The protest, mainly by tribal women, was held for the last fortnight on the banks of the Barana river near Kupi village in Chhatarpur district. Protesters had also launched 'jal satyagraha', 'chita (funeral pyre) satyagraha' and a symbolic 'faansi satyagraha'.
The agitation was led by Amit Bhatnagar, who staged an indefinite fast for 11 days.
The Ken-Betwa Link Project, the country's first river interlinking project under the National Perspective Plan, seeks to transfer surplus water from the Ken to the Betwa river to provide irrigation and drinking facilities in the drought-prone Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
The protest, launched on July 3 on the banks of the Barana river near Kupi village, opposed the Ken-Betwa river-linking project and other development works.
