Kesinga: An MSME park in Kurlupada village under Kesinga block in Kalahandi district has remained incomplete for five years despite an expenditure of Rs 12 crore, triggering resentment among farmers who lost their land for the project.
The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) park was planned on 180 acre land acquired from 150 farmers in 1983 for a proposed paper mill by JK Paper. The land had been acquired at a low price with assurances of employment, farmers said.
In 1984, the then chief minister Janaki Ballabh Patnaik laid the foundation stone for the proposed paper mill project. However, the mill was never set up. Instead, the company later discreetly sold the 180 acres to Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) in the mid-1990s. Subsequently, during 2007-08, IDCO sold 12 acres to the Kesinga Notified Area Council for the construction of a bus stand.
Following repeated complaints by displaced farmers seeking employment, the then BJD government planned in 2000 to establish an MSME park on the acquired land to address their grievances. IDCO’s Bolangir division first constructed a boundary wall around the 180 acres at a cost of Rs 2 crore through a tender process. Later, roads and drainage systems were developed in three stretches at an estimated cost of Rs 10 crore. Despite the infrastructure work, the park has remained non-functional for the past five years.
The land is now overgrown with bushes, and no industrial unit has been set up. Farmers said they had hoped that even if they lost their land, the establishment of the paper mill or subsequent industrial units would provide them with jobs. “Years have passed, but we are still waiting eagerly,” one farmer said, expressing frustration over the delay.
The affected farmers have demanded that if the park is not made operational, their land should be returned. They have warned of a road blockade on National Highway 26 if their demands are not addressed. Local industrialists have also urged the state government, now led by the BJP, to take immediate steps to operationalise the park, saying it would benefit the region’s economy and generate employment.
When contacted, Alok Ranjan Bai, an engineer with IDCO’s Bolangir division, said the government has changed and no fresh instruction has been received so far regarding the project.