Kolabnagar: Residents of Chhenda, a village displaced decades back by Upper Kolab multipurpose project under Kotpad block in Koraput district have threatened to boycott general elections unless their basic needs are fulfilled soon.
People of the village, just 15 km from the district headquarters, had been displaced in 1986 and were rehabilitated at Camp-5 in Kotpad block. Of 31 families, 15 were reluctant to leave their ancestors’ land and opted to reside along the reservoir. The number of families has increased to 50 over last 30 years. Collecting firewood from the forest and selling them in nearby areas remain their only source of sustenance.
Though the residents have been approaching the administration seeking fulfillment of their basic requirements, it has so far fallen on deaf ears, alleged people.
According to reports, most of the kids of the village tend cattle as the school often remains closed due to the absence of teachers. Similarly, the lone tube well of the village had become defunct about 10 years back forcing residents to consume polluted water of the reservoir. People always suffer from waterborne diseases after they take contaminated water and don’t get healthcare services. As the village is like a small island, country boats are the only mode of transportation for the people. The villagers have to cover about 8 km in these boats to reach the markets of Lamtaput and Kolab Nagar and sell the firewood to meet their daily needs, said the SC families of the village.
On the other hand, the administration has so far ignored their request to provide new boats or motorized boats to improve transportation facility, the residents said, adding, death of people due to boat capsize incidents is a regular affair for them.
There are two physically-challenged persons in the village– Arjun Khemundu(30) and Hari Shukri(50) – who often remain starved due to poverty.
Even as many drought-hit regions have turned green because of their sacrifice, they lead a life of deprivation for past several decades, rued the disable persons.
Other villagers including Balaram Shukri, Trilochan Shukri, Gurnath Shukri and Padlam Kirishani threatened to boycott the coming elections if their problems are not solved at the earliest. PNN
