People in Kanker district have opposed the construction of the 235-kilometre-long [Dalli‐Rajhara‐Rowghat‐Jagdalpur ](https://steel.gov.in/sites/default/files/IMG Agenda 25072012.pdf)railway line. The railway project, to be completed in two phases, is under South Eastern Central Railway. It will transport iron ore from Rowghat mines to the Bhilai Steel Plant. The first phase is a 95-kilometre stretch between Dalli Rajhara and Rowghat. The second phase will connect the 140-kilometre stretch between Rowghat and Jagdalpur. 

The administration completed the land acquisition process by 2009-10. Construction started in 2011 for Phase I. Protests have continued since.

The opposition stems from concerns about the impact of the mines and their infrastructure on the local tribal communities, their livelihood and forests. Reportedly, the project violates the Forest Rights Act as the tribespeople were ousted from the affected villages without proper recognition of their rights and fair compensation. Moreover, the project would result in the felling of over three lakh trees. The affected farmers have also demanded the compensation they were promised for their lands. 

Since 2011, there have been several instances of protests, violence and intimidation by Naxalites in the area, according to a media report. This led to a delay in the completion of the first phase of the project. In response, the administration heavily militarised the railway line stretch to tackle Maoist activities.  

All along, the village residents continued to protest. As per a news report, in September 2015, a person opposing the mines and the railway project was arrested for “disrupting the public peace”. There have been similar reports of harassment of protesting villagers by the police and Border Security Force. 
In April 2016, the Ministry of Railways issued a notification for the second phase of the project. 

In 2017, the affected shopkeepers and landowners protested and presented a 13-points agenda, demanding compensation under the banner of Vikas Sangharsh Samiti. Following this, they were arrested. Later, they held multiple meetings with the BSP management to voice their demands. 

In January 2018, some of the affected villagers approached the district administration and filed a petition at the Chhattisgarh high court to demand employment. In March, farmers started to agitate against the delay in compensation, reported a newspaper. They claimed that the administration had promised fair compensation and employment for one member of each affected household. However, they lacked clarity on the changes in the policy adopted for compensating the families, which the administration cited as an excuse for not granting employment to several households. Reportedly, over 400 families were still awaiting their compensation package in 2018. 

In April that year, the prime minister inaugurated a part of the railway track. In July, the administration announced the distribution of compensation to 108 of the affected farmers, amounting to Rs 152 crore, reported a news article. Since then, the project work has continued amidst ongoing discontent.

In 2019, farmers raised concerns over the low rate of compensation. They were relieved when in February 2021 the Kanker District Collector announced to expedite the process of granting employment to the 502 affected families. As per a news report, he stated that the district administration had sent a proposal to the Ministry of Railways and the BSP management to employ the members of the affected households. But the assurances remain unfulfilled. Land acquisition for Phase II is yet to be complete.

Following the 2018 compensation awards, a Collector inquiry found that several landowners had received grossly inflated payments in collusion with revenue officials. The Chhattisgarh High Court quashed the land acquisition proceedings entirely in 2022 and ordered fresh compensation, while FIRs were registered against ten persons including the then Additional Collector of Bastar and several revenue officers under IPC sections including 120B, 420, 467, and 409. In setting aside the tainted awards, however, the High Court also inadvertently froze legitimate compensation claims of ordinary landowners not party to the fraud.

In January 2026, the Supreme Court intervened, holding that excessive compensation paid to some landowners cannot invalidate the rightful entitlements of others, and restoring an arbitral award that the High Court had set aside. Against this backdrop, approximately 5,000 farmers in Narayanpur district submitted a memorandum to the Collector in 2025 alleging that land being acquired for Phase II is being compensated at 2019–20 rates, and demanding current market rates, railway employment for one family member each, and replacement agricultural land.