Bolangir: Even as it is too early to predict how Lower Suktel Dam would change the fortunes of Bolangir district, the life of people to be displaced by the project would never be the same again, said a report.
Physically challenged Virat Gadatya(40), a prosperous farmer of Paradhiapali village under this block, is a case in point.
Virat had 14 acres of fertile land and he was leading a life of affluence along with his siblings. But he now sells vegetables along a road in this town to eke out a living after his farmland was taken away by the administration for the project.
According to reports, the construction of the project is underway and the government is yet to displace the people of 29 affected villages. However, the pre- displacement activity has made people’s life miserable. People would automatically leave their birthplace if the government continues to forcibly acquire the farmlands, the only source of sustenance for many, felt some villagers.
Virat, the third son of Gyana Gadatya(70), suffered from polio after his birth. However, his disability never let him down as he inherited about 14 acres of fertile agricultural land and his earning from cultivation was adequate to maintain his family – wife and two sons.
Being part of a joint family, Virat had no other work except overseeing the farming activities.
But the government’s forcible acquisition of the farmland in 2014 for construction of Lower Suktel Dam shattered his dreams. Acquisition was necessary as Virat’s land was on the axis line of the dam, officials said. Though Gadatyas vehemently opposed the project from the beginning, but in vain. The administration acquired the land using police force without paying a penny to the family as compensation.
In two years of losing their valuable farmland, the family got separated and Virat was the worst-hit. Finding no source of sustenance, he left the village about seven months back and came to Bolangir town in search of livelihood. At present, he sells vegetables along a street. The earning from his small business is not adequate to run the family of four, Virat says, adding, his wife and kids miss the village.
The condition of Virat’s brothers and parents who are in the village is also not good.
It is not clear as to how the dam would benefit common people, but it has surely shaken the foundation of a well- to-do farmer’s family. PNN
