Police on Sunday broke up a 17-day protest against the Ken-Betwa Link and other development projects in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhatarpur district by dispersing protesters and shifting movement leader Amit Bhatnagar, who has been on fast for 11 days, to hospital after his health worsened.

Police justified the 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. The protest, mainly by tribal women, had been underway since July 3.