India, June 9 -- Wildlife experts and forest officials have flagged concerns over the construction work for the Ken-Betwa river linking project going on in the Panna Tiger Reserve in Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh, citing a severe impact on the wildlife population inside the reserve.

The project, flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 25 last year, envisions channelling excess water from Ken River into Betwa to provide access to drinking water to around 6.5 million people in MP and neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.

In March 2025, work began with the construction of a road to the dam site at Daudhan village, in PTR's core Chandra Nagar range, for which trees in 15 hectares of forest land were felled. As a result, animal...