Boinda: Villagers of Dhauragoth area under Kishorenagar block in Angul district have opposed the construction of proposed Dhauragoth irrigation project over displacement and rehabilitation fears.
The district administration Monday held two village-level meetings at Bhejigoth and Luhamunda villages under Billeinali panchayat where the district administration faced stiff resistance from the locals.
According to a source, the villagers of Bhejigoth who are likely to be affected the most by the project in one way or the other, raised their concerns against the project from the very beginning of the meeting.
Bhejigoth villagers pointed out that the project would submerge the entire village and strip the locals of their ancestral properties. More than 200 families are to be affected who will eventually lose their source of earning. The villagers here earn their livelihood by growing crops round the year. Handing over their lands to the administration would expose them to grave financial risks, they argued while adding they would not spare even an inch of land even if they need to fight to death over the issue.
The district administration also faced similar opposition from the villagers at Luhamunda ‘pallisabha’ (village-level meetings) where the angry villagers demanded the government officials to organise the meeting only after doing a complete survey on lands that are likely to be affected by the project. They alleged many families of Luhamunda village would definitely lose their land and thereby their source of income if Dhauragoth irrigation project is constructed.
When asked, sub collector Rajnikant Biswal said the villagers of Bhejigoth and Luhamunda have opposed the Dhauragoth irrigation project and the same would be intimated to the government and the collector.
PNN