The police in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh have released more than five-hundred demonstrators -- including the prize-winning novelist Arundhati Roy -- after they were arrested at a protest calling for a halt to construction work on the Narmada dams project.

The demonstration took place at the site of the Maheshwar dam, one of a series of dams planned for the Narmada river.

Protestors say the projects will lead to villages being submerged and thousands losing their homes.

Ms Roy won the Booker prize for literature in 1997 for her book, The God of Small Things, and she has been an active opponent of the Narmada project.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service