Puri: Hundreds of irate villagers from eleven villages Monday gheraoed and locked the district land consolidation and land settlement offices, demanding that the ongoing settlement work be halted until the 1988 Supreme Court order is implemented.
The protesters alleged that many villagers have lost their land titles due to inordinate delays and irregularities in the settlement of land rights by the revenue administration since 1988.
The affected villages include Samangara, Batagaon, Baligua li, Mangarajpur, Malatipatpur, Alikia, Rendua, Nuapatana, Nagapatana, Chakrabartipatana and Puri Sadar. In most cases, the land rights of the villagers were allegedly deleted.
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They demanded that the ongoing settlement work be halted until the 1988 Supreme Court order is implemented. Village leaders Ullash Chandra Jena and Damodar Mahapatra alleged negligence by the district administration for failing to implement the 1988 Supreme Court judgment on the Odisha land reforms issue.
Non-implementation of the apex court order has put the villagers in distress. They warned that they would intensify their agitation if the issue is not resolved.