Bhapur: Tension ran high at Elpada village under Fategarh police limits in Nayagarh district as four earthen bunds, each measuring four feet in height, have been put up, resulting in waist-deep rain water standing in the middle of the village.
Elpada is the second largest village in Bhapur panchayat. A dispute has arisen in this village over letting rain water flow down.
The land through which the runoff water used to pass previously has been obstructed as the land owner has dumped heaps of earth for construction purpose. As a result, the flow of rain water has found a way through others’ lands, giving rise to the dispute.
As the dispute is going from bad to worse with no possible solution in sight, the villagers have dumped 15 to 20 loads of earth in tractors at different places in the middle of the village, leaving over 400 villagers in the lurch.
Though the matter has already been brought to the notice of the tehsildar, Bhapur, and IIC Fategarh, no discernible steps have so far been taken to ease the tense situation. The police have shaken their hands off only by summoning some villagers to the station.
When contacted, Fategarh IIC Ashutosh Mishra said it was the duty of tehsildar. However, after investigating the case, we have sent for 16/17 villagers, he added.
Bhapur Tehsildar Trupty Mohanty said some villagers had intimated her about the dispute on the occasion of Ratha Yatra when she was officiating as magistrate. “I will get the matter investigated by the RI and visit the village to see for myself to gauge the situation,” she said.
Locals urged the administration to take early steps to prevent the recurrence of incident wherein two persons were killed in firing over a dispute arising out of rain water release problem between Dadhipur and Panibhandar villages under Sarankul police limits in this district recently.
PNN