Kendujhar: Orissa High Court has issued notices to the Odisha government and district authorities in a writ petition concerning the alleged takeover of ancestral land for construction of the Bhadrasahi-Badabil-Nalda Road in Kendujhar district without due acquisition proceedings or payment of compensation.
The petition was filed by Prasanta Kumar Mahakud, 73, Chhatish Kumar Mahakud, 31, and Nanda Kishore Mahakud, 59, who alleged that their ancestral land under Khata No. 29 in Belkundi village, under Badabil tehsil, was taken over in 1984 for construction of the road.
According to the petitioners, the government has occupied the land for more than four decades and it now forms part of a major public road that is extensively used for transportation, including heavy mineral traffic in the Badabil mining region. The petitioners said they have submitted repeated representations to the authorities since 2021.
They also claimed that official correspondence acknowledged the presence of private land within the road alignment, but no compensation or rehabilitation benefits have been provided to them. They have challenged a compensation proposal reportedly considered under a District Mineral Foundation (DMF) initiative, arguing that compensation should be determined in accordance with Sections 26 to 30 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
The provisions deal with market value, solatium and other statutory benefits. The respondents include the principal secretary of the Works Department, Odisha government; the Collector and District Magistrate of Kendujhar; the Superintending Engineer of the PWD (R&B) Division, Badabil; and the Badabil tehsildar. The High Court, taking cognisance of the petition, has sought responses from the state government and the concerned authorities. The matter is pending adjudication.
