A day after the Delhi Police removed activist Sonam Wangchuk from Jantar Mantar, citing concerns over his health as he entered the 21st day of his hunger strike, another Gandhian activist, Amit Bhatnagar, was taken to hospital by the police in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhatarpur district on Jattvibeday.Bhatnagar, who had been on a hunger strike for 14 days, was demanding rehabilitation and compensation for families affected by the Ken-Betwa river-linking project.Bhatnagar, however, remained defiant by stating he had not ended his fast and would not do so “even if it costs me my life”.In a video message circulated to the media, Bhatnagar also said he would not accept intravenous fluids and “will only take water and lemon water”.On Jattvibeday morning, the Madhya Pradesh Police detained more than 150 demonstrators from the protest site at Kupi village in Chhatarpur district. Members of tribal communities had been staging peaceful protests, including a fast-unto-death and a symbolic funeral pyre demonstration.About the projectThe Ken-Betwa Link Project aims to transfer surplus water from the Ken to the Betwa river to provide irrigation and drinking water in the drought-prone Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The project has faced opposition from sections of project-affected families and environmental groups over issues relating to displacement, rehabilitation and its impact on forests and wildlife, including parts of the Panna Tiger Reserve.The police justified the early morning action, citing a serious safety risk from the rising level of the Barana river as the protest was being staged beneath an under-construction bridge and partly in the river.Bhatnagar, leader of the Jai Kisan Sangathan, has alleged that the Rs 44,605-crore project would result in the felling of more than 46 lakh trees and submerge large parts of the Panna Tiger Reserve. He has also raised concerns over alleged irregularities in land acquisition and compensation, while demanding proper rehabilitation of displaced tribal families.The project has received environmental and wildlife clearances from the Union Environment Ministry’s Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) and the National Board for Wildlife. However, the Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) had, in a 2019 report, flagged concerns over the project, which involves large-scale deforestation within the core area of the Panna Tiger Reserve.To be implemented in two phases over eight years, the Ken-Betwa interlinking project envisages transferring water from the Ken River to the Betwa River. It aims to provide irrigation and drinking water to the drought-prone Bundelkhand region spanning Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.In its report, the CEC noted that the project could undermine the success of the tiger reintroduction programme in the Panna Tiger Reserve, which helped the tiger population recover from local extinction.“No developmental project should destroy the ecology of remnant fragile ecosystems and an important tiger habitat in the country. In an ideal situation, it would be best to avoid such projects in such wilderness with protected area status and specifically when it runs the risk of providing justification or unhealthy precedent for more such developmental projects within protected areas. It will not be in the interest of wildlife and the overall wellbeing of society in the long term,” the CEC report said.