Joda: Amid allegations that the people affected by the Kanpur Irrigation Project at Basudevpur in Keonjhar district are yet to get rehabilitation and resettlement, some outstees came to the office of the director of the project (rehabilitation and resettlement) Tuesday as per the notification. However, they had to return frustrated as the director was found absent.
His absence allegedly pointed to official apathy towards settling the issue of settlement of the outstees.
According to a report, people from Dadhuan village had been notified (vide letter-44 dated January 31, 2020) to come to the office Tuesday along with their documents.
The notification stated that those who have lost their land and have been deprived of availing government compensation are required to come to the R&R director’s office at 11 am February 11. They were supposed to furnish copies of their ration cards, voter’s identity cards, Aadhaar cards, records of their acquired land, notice for compensation, updated passbooks, age-related documents for verification.
About 50 people of Dadhuan had gone to the office thinking their pending issues would be sorted out, but that was not to be.
Till 2 pm, they had waited for the director to turn up. After two-and-a-half hours, they drew the attention of Mahesh Kumar Bhuyan, chief engineer of the Kanpur project.
Then, zone office showed up at the office and took away documents of some oustees hurriedly.
It may be noted here that the affected people in other areas had staged agitations in the past, but the project authorities had allegedly given a short shrift to their problems.
In the past, a rapporterur of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had investigated the issue of the project affected people in 2018 following a complaint from Kanpur Bistapita Core Committee, a local outfit, fighting for rights of the displaced people in Kanpur.
Notably, problems in land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R) of displaced people are said to be the major bottlenecks in the project. Even after 40 years, the ambitious project being built across the river Baitarani is yet to be completed.
The project is expected to irrigate 73,088 acres in 244 villages under five blocks of the district.
PNN
