Bolangir: The much-anticipated Lower Suktel Irrigation Project in Bolangir district was inaugurated with much fanfare in the run-up to the general elections last year. At the time, large-scale displacement occurred across 29 project-affected villages, with many residents being forced to relocate without adequate resettlement provisions.
As a result, numerous families continue to face severe difficulties. A significant number of displaced persons have yet to leave their original villages and remain within the reservoir area in precarious conditions. The community has blamed the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government, which ruled the state for 24 years, for their ordeal. With the BJP-led state regime now marking its first anniversary, the prevailing dire situation of the displaced has once again come under the spotlight. Those worst affected are landless families living in temporary colonies such as Kusmel. Residents from villages including Banchhorpali, Podhamunda, Koindapali, and Gadshankar’s Dunguripali lament a complete lack of basic amenities. Despite the passage of over a year since their ouster, they have not been allotted homestead land. Families live in tin-sheet houses, enduring scorching summer heat without access to drinking water or educational facilities.
Children in these areas have had to drop out of school. Although an Anganwadi centre has been inaugurated in Jhankarpali, it remains non-operational due to the absence of road connectivity. There is also no provision of ponds or dams, and water supply via tankers is erratic. No healthcare services are available in the area. In Kumiapali, about 70 tribal and other families have refused to leave their native village, which now falls within the reservoir zone. These families have been deprived of school, Anganwadi centre, nutrition programmes, and access to maternal and child healthcare, raising grave concerns among rights groups. On the other hand, although people were displaced urgently, the dam itself is not yet storing water. Chief construction engineer Surendra Bhoi recently said that water conservation will begin in the 2025–26 fiscal year, with limited irrigation possible on select farmlands. However, with crucial components such as the dam’s ancillary structures and pipeline network still incomplete, farmers remain doubtful whether they can irrigate their farmlands in the current kharif season.
Also Read: Lower Suktel oustees left high and dry
At the time of the dam’s inauguration, former Bolangir MLA Narasingha Mishra, then Loisingha MLA Dr Mukesh Mahaling, and then MP Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo had criticised the rushed execution of the project, raising questions about unresolved rehabilitation issues. Interestingly, in a role reversal, sitting BJD MLA Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo has now taken up the cause of the displaced, signalling that their concerns remain politically and socially relevant.
Despite 24 years of BJD reign and one year of BJP rule in the state, the fact that many of the displaced still live without land, shelter, water, education, or healthcare remains a matter of ongoing public debate and concern.
