Rajghat dam swallows fertile land in central India

Two researchers who walked along a 270-km stretch of the Betwa river found that, despite promises of rehabilitation, nearby villagers have lost agricultural livelihood due to the construction of dams

Frail and bent over his walking stick, Raja Ram squatted by the bushes of the denuded forest-scape around his village. His buffalo, whom he lovingly named Chandgaya, grazed on the hillock dominated by the invasive Prosopis juliflora shrubs. Behind the hillock and abutting Gendora village lay the Rajghat reservoir, where a dam shackled the monsoon-bloated Betwa river and submerged nearby land.[Readmore]