After sixty-five years Hirakud land oustees to get land pattas

Following item is from The Pioneer:

Sixty-five years after, the State Government has realised the sufferings of the land oustees of Hirakud Reservoir project and decided to provide them regular land Pattas at the places of their settlement.

Besides, the Government has also decided to undertake a fresh survey of the demarcated submerged areas, now habitation of displaced families, to provide compensation within three months.

According to Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Surjya Narayan Patro on Friday, the decisions were taken at a high-level meeting on the problems of the Hirakud displaced families. The meeting was attended by the RDC, Sambalpur, District Collectors of Sambalpur and Jharsuguda.

Patro said the Hirakud Reservoir project, the construction of which was started in 1946, was completed in 1957. As many as 249 villages were declared as the submerged area and 26,501 families were displaced. Though they were settled at 14 rehabilitation colonies, no regular land Pattas were given to them leading to discontent among the affected families.

He said that though the dam was constructed with the design of the reservoir level at 632 feet, since the water level has been managed within 630 feet for over 40 years, the demarcated submerged areas within the two remaining feet have been turned into habitations by hundreds of families, who were denied basic Government facilities as they were treated as encroachers. In this background, it has been decided to undertake a joint survey of the status of the area and the settled families by the Revenue and Water Resources Departments for providing them compensation and other facilities.

Patro said it has also been decided to provide compensation and ex-gratia to the denied displaced families by making a fresh survey. The names of the affected families would be displayed in the official website and the list would be notified at the nearest tehsil offices to enable the genuine families to receive their compensation. An estimated `2 crore has been placed with the District Collectors since 1996-97 towards disbursement of compensation, the Minister added.