Joda: Acquisition of land for Kanpur mega irrigation project in Joda area of Keonjhar district started in 2004. Yet the process is far from over. Scores of displaced people have allegedly been suffering without rehabilitation and resettlement.
Many of them live in miserable condition under polythene covered shanties. Upset over the government apathy towards their plight, they have decided to boycott the panchayat elections.
According to reports, for the last three decades, construction of the mega Kanpur irrigation project across the Baitarani river has been continuing. The project is said to be the second largest dam in the state.
Displacement has been a major issue for the people in the area. For development of the state, hundreds of people have sacrificed their interests by leaving behind their homeland and farmland.
But many issues related to their rehabilitation and resettlement have not been settled till date. Hence, it has become a cause of resentment among people.
As many as 16 villages in the area have been identified as submergence zone of the irrigation project while three villagers have been partially affected by it.
Residents who have been shifted from submergence-prone zone, decried the government’s apathy over years in the matter of R&R and compensation issues.
“We have been neglected by the government. We have left everything for the project,” said oustees like Jagannath Tiria, Arjun Behera, Tama Behera, and Dillip Nayak.
All of them are from Chamakpur, Ravensahwpur (A) and (B), which have been among the complete submergence zone. Others like Santosh Das and Kuni Das have expressed same dissatisfaction over their unresolved issues.
They added that the state government has not yet cleared the dues which were raised in 2012 as part of the compensation to the displaced people.
“Moreover, we have not been provided homestead land and farmland as per the provision laid in the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act-2006,” they pointed out. In 2013, the youths aged above 18 years have not been enlisted as oustees.
The administration without conducting a proper survey of the affected area, has forcibly removed people in 10 villages. After eviction, villagers are living under polythene sheets, braving rains and cold.
“We are in a miserable condition. As long as we do not have villages to live in, we will not vote. The upcoming panchayat polls will be boycotted,” they fumed.
Chamakpur sarpanch Narahari Nayak has confirmed about this decision of the oustees.
PNN