Evening had fallen over Daudhan village in Madhya Pradesh’s Bundelkhand region. A soft beat of a dhol came from the distance as the dump trucks and heavy machines fell silent.

Inside his bakhri (mud house), Munni Lal sat chatting with his neighbours. About 500 m away, construction work on the Daudhan dam, across the Ken river, continued. The dam is the main part of the Ken-Betwa river-linking project.

Published - August 18, 2026 09:00 am IST