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First it was a mammoth dam, then an open cast coal mining project, and now the expansion of a thermal power station: the spectre of displacement has stalked the Hirakud oustees for six decades.
The bitter memories haven't deserted Boudhyan Sahu and Bidesi Pradhan. They reside in Tilia village of Orissa's Jharsuguda district. They remember their younger days when both, along with their parents, had to leave their ancestral homes under duress. The shock and trauma of eviction are still fresh in Sahu's mind although 60 years have gone by/ 'It will haunt me till I die. It was terrible. I pray to God nobody else faces such a fate,' he says as tears well up in his eyes.
Sahu goes on: 'The officials arrived under police protection and ordered us to vacate our houses. We left our homes with whatever belongings we could muster. We had no choice. Anybody who resisted was forcibly removed from the area by the police.'
The forced eviction of the villagers was done to pave the way for the construction of the Hirakud dam on the Mahanadi. This was the first major project of the post-Independence era that caused large-scale displacement. It submerged 285 villages (249 in Orissa, 36 in Chhattisgarh, then part of Madhya Pradesh), affecting 26,501 families. The project was greeted with protests from the people. So the government deployed the police to evict the population and clear the obstacles in the way of the Hirakud dam.
Worse was to follow. Not only were many of the oustees inadequately rehabilitated, the displaced families did not even receive the compensation that they were promised. The compensation is still lying with the government as there are no reliable official records about many of the displaced families.
Some of the uprooted families that were resettled in Jharsuguda district are now facing the prospect of being displaced again. The Orissa Power Generation Corporation's thermal power station in Jharsuguda is in the process of being expanded and these hapless people will have to pay the price for development.
Virtually every family in this area has members who remember the days leading up to the Hirakud dam construction. Legally, no citizen of this country can be evicted from his habitation without being given a proper rehabilitation package. But for the Hirakud oustees, this norm was thrown to the winds. Many displaced families fled in panic, leaving behind their belongings and cattle, never to return. Police excesses scared them away.
As per available reports, only Rs 340 lakh was paid to the oustees. That was only about one-third of the allocated amount ' Rs 960 lakh. Only 4744 families (21.42 per cent of the total displaced) were rehabilitated. These included some tribal and scheduled caste families.
Among the families rehabilitated, 3098 families (65.3 per cent) did not receive full compensation till as late as the 1990s. However, during the reign of the late Biju Patnaik, the Orissa government took steps to locate the displaced families and pay them the compensation. A few of these families were lucky to get their compensation, but it was too late. After Biju Patnaik, the issue was shoved into cold storage as none of the subsequent chief ministers deigned it fit to address the plight of the Hirakud dam oustees. The fate of those who settled down in Jharsuguda remained unchanged as the Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (a subsidiary of Coal India Ltd) needed land to begin coal mining in the Ib Valley in 1985. The company acquired 926.6 hectares and formulated a resettlement policy of its own and forcibly displaced people for its mines.
Five open cast mines affected 18 villages and 1353 families. The most affected villages were Kudapali, Jorabaga, Bundhia, Jamkani, Tolipali, Bandbahal, Lajkura, Lamtibahal and Lohrapara. Though the MCL authorities claim to have rehabilitated the displaced with utmost diligence, problems continue to fester here.
In 1989, the foundation stone of the Ib Valley Thermal Power Station was laid by the then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi. The plant, once it was up and running, started functioning at Banaharpali (Jharsuguda district) under OPGC. About 329 families in three villages were affected by the power station. Of these, 146 families were fully displaced. Many still reside in the resettlement colony constructed by the company. The thermal power station has two units with a total generation of 420 MW (210X2) at present.
History is now set to repeat itself. The people of the region, particularly in the Tilia panchayat area of the district, are in danger of losing home and hearth as the government wants to acquire land for the expansion work of the thermal power station. The proposed expansion project (3rd and 4th units) would be aimed at generating 1,320 MW (660 MW each) of power at an investment of Rs 10,000 crore, besides development of captive coal mines and a rail link between the power plant and coal mines. The US power company, AES Corporation, has agreed to take up the expansion work to be started as early as the first quarter of 2011. The company shares 49 per cent of the stakes while OPGC controls the remaining 51 per cent. The company has been allotted two coal mines with a total reserve of 530 million tonnes in the Manoharpur and Deep Manoharpur areas of Sundergarh district. Though the expansion project was mooted in 2003-04, it could not start because of a dispute over power sharing between the two partners. The chief minister laid the foundation stone for the expansion project in 2004. "The OPGC will supply 50 per cent of power from its expansion project at a cost determined by the OERC (Orissa Electricity Regulatory Commission) to the state, while the remaining 50 per cent can be sold in the open market," a senior official said.
For the proposed expansion, the government will acquire about 277 acres of private land belonging to residents of Tilia and two other villages. 'We have received a notice from the land acquisition office of Jharsuguda district. We have been spending sleepless nights. We live in fear that we will be evicted from our dwellings once again,' says Srinivas Pradhan, a Hirakud dam oustee and resident of Tilia panchayat area.
The locals have asked the government to give proper attention to rehabilitation of and compensation for those who surrender their land. They have organised themselves under the banner of OPGC Bistapan Surakhya Manch to demand compensation of Rs 30 lakh per acre. They have also demanded one job for each displaced family or an additional Rs 10 lakh in case one does not opt for employment. 'Apart from this provision, we have also emphatically demanded that proper drinking water, healthcare and education be made available for people in the rehabilitation colony,' the convener of the Manch, Yagya Narayan Pradhan, said.
Meanwhile, the people of Jharsuguda have expressed concern over the worsening levels of pollution in Ib valley. 'Once hailed for its natural beauty, Ib valley has turned into a polluted hell-hole owing to the coal mines and numerous industries. We demand that the government should take steps to prevent the setting up of new industries or expansion of any existing industry in the Ib valley region in the interest of the people who reside in the district,' Mohammad Rauf, head of CARE (Creative Action to Restitute Environment), an organization that works for the protection of the ecology in Jharsuguda district, told TSI.
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First it was a mammoth dam, then an open cast coal mining project, and now the expansion of a thermal power station: the spectre of displacement has stalked the Hirakud oustees for six decades.
The bitter memories haven't deserted Boudhyan Sahu and Bidesi Pradhan. They reside in Tilia village of Orissa's Jharsuguda district. They remember their younger days when both, along with their parents, had to leave their ancestral homes under duress. The shock and trauma of eviction are still fresh in Sahu's mind although 60 years have gone by/ 'It will haunt me till I die. It was terrible. I pray to God nobody else faces such a fate,' he says as tears well up in his eyes.
Sahu goes on: 'The officials arrived under police protection and ordered us to vacate our houses. We left our homes with whatever belongings we could muster. We had no choice. Anybody who resisted was forcibly removed from the area by the police.'
The forced eviction of the villagers was done to pave the way for the construction of the Hirakud dam on the Mahanadi. This was the first major project of the post-Independence era that caused large-scale displacement. It submerged 285 villages (249 in Orissa, 36 in Chhattisgarh, then part of Madhya Pradesh), affecting 26,501 families. The project was greeted with protests from the people. So the government deployed the police to evict the population and clear the obstacles in the way of the Hirakud dam.
Worse was to follow. Not only were many of the oustees inadequately rehabilitated, the displaced families did not even receive the compensation that they were promised. The compensation is still lying with the government as there are no reliable official records about many of the displaced families.
Some of the uprooted families that were resettled in Jharsuguda district are now facing the prospect of being displaced again. The Orissa Power Generation Corporation's thermal power station in Jharsuguda is in the process of being expanded and these hapless people will have to pay the price for development.
Virtually every family in this area has members who remember the days leading up to the Hirakud dam construction. Legally, no citizen of this country can be evicted from his habitation without being given a proper rehabilitation package. But for the Hirakud oustees, this norm was thrown to the winds. Many displaced families fled in panic, leaving behind their belongings and cattle, never to return. Police excesses scared them away.
As per available reports, only Rs 340 lakh was paid to the oustees. That was only about one-third of the allocated amount ' Rs 960 lakh. Only 4744 families (21.42 per cent of the total displaced) were rehabilitated. These included some tribal and scheduled caste families.
Among the families rehabilitated, 3098 families (65.3 per cent) did not receive full compensation till as late as the 1990s. However, during the reign of the late Biju Patnaik, the Orissa government took steps to locate the displaced families and pay them the compensation. A few of these families were lucky to get their compensation, but it was too late. After Biju Patnaik, the issue was shoved into cold storage as none of the subsequent chief ministers deigned it fit to address the plight of the Hirakud dam oustees. The fate of those who settled down in Jharsuguda remained unchanged as the Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (a subsidiary of Coal India Ltd) needed land to begin coal mining in the Ib Valley in 1985. The company acquired 926.6 hectares and formulated a resettlement policy of its own and forcibly displaced people for its mines.
Five open cast mines affected 18 villages and 1353 families. The most affected villages were Kudapali, Jorabaga, Bundhia, Jamkani, Tolipali, Bandbahal, Lajkura, Lamtibahal and Lohrapara. Though the MCL authorities claim to have rehabilitated the displaced with utmost diligence, problems continue to fester here.
In 1989, the foundation stone of the Ib Valley Thermal Power Station was laid by the then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi. The plant, once it was up and running, started functioning at Banaharpali (Jharsuguda district) under OPGC. About 329 families in three villages were affected by the power station. Of these, 146 families were fully displaced. Many still reside in the resettlement colony constructed by the company. The thermal power station has two units with a total generation of 420 MW (210X2) at present.
History is now set to repeat itself. The people of the region, particularly in the Tilia panchayat area of the district, are in danger of losing home and hearth as the government wants to acquire land for the expansion work of the thermal power station. The proposed expansion project (3rd and 4th units) would be aimed at generating 1,320 MW (660 MW each) of power at an investment of Rs 10,000 crore, besides development of captive coal mines and a rail link between the power plant and coal mines. The US power company, AES Corporation, has agreed to take up the expansion work to be started as early as the first quarter of 2011. The company shares 49 per cent of the stakes while OPGC controls the remaining 51 per cent. The company has been allotted two coal mines with a total reserve of 530 million tonnes in the Manoharpur and Deep Manoharpur areas of Sundergarh district. Though the expansion project was mooted in 2003-04, it could not start because of a dispute over power sharing between the two partners. The chief minister laid the foundation stone for the expansion project in 2004. "The OPGC will supply 50 per cent of power from its expansion project at a cost determined by the OERC (Orissa Electricity Regulatory Commission) to the state, while the remaining 50 per cent can be sold in the open market," a senior official said.
For the proposed expansion, the government will acquire about 277 acres of private land belonging to residents of Tilia and two other villages. 'We have received a notice from the land acquisition office of Jharsuguda district. We have been spending sleepless nights. We live in fear that we will be evicted from our dwellings once again,' says Srinivas Pradhan, a Hirakud dam oustee and resident of Tilia panchayat area.
The locals have asked the government to give proper attention to rehabilitation of and compensation for those who surrender their land. They have organised themselves under the banner of OPGC Bistapan Surakhya Manch to demand compensation of Rs 30 lakh per acre. They have also demanded one job for each displaced family or an additional Rs 10 lakh in case one does not opt for employment. 'Apart from this provision, we have also emphatically demanded that proper drinking water, healthcare and education be made available for people in the rehabilitation colony,' the convener of the Manch, Yagya Narayan Pradhan, said.
Meanwhile, the people of Jharsuguda have expressed concern over the worsening levels of pollution in Ib valley. 'Once hailed for its natural beauty, Ib valley has turned into a polluted hell-hole owing to the coal mines and numerous industries. We demand that the government should take steps to prevent the setting up of new industries or expansion of any existing industry in the Ib valley region in the interest of the people who reside in the district,' Mohammad Rauf, head of CARE (Creative Action to Restitute Environment), an organization that works for the protection of the ecology in Jharsuguda district, told TSI.
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
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Indian universities and higher education institutes seem to be caught in a time warp teaching things
Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU): Students' Unions can not be banned
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