The locals, who have been staying at Bagapatia village for more than seven decades after obtaining permanent records of rights (patta) and hand patta in their favour from Kanika Tehsil, on Friday threatened to resort to a fast-unto-death if their land was acquired by the Government for the proposed Biju Nagar Resettlement colony to rehabilitate the sea erosion-prone Satabahya people.
They submitted a memorandum urging the district administration not to evict them from their land as it would lead to their losing livelihood.On Thursday, the locals of Bagapatia had destroyed some of the concrete pillars while the district administration was going to make iron wire fencing on the boundary of 48.50 acres of land already acquired for the colony. They later staged dharna on the Bagapatia road demanding to halt the boundary demarcation work. Tehsildar Khirod Kumar Behera and police reached the spot and assured the agitating locals that the boundary demarcation work would resume after sorting out their problem.
As many as 571 families of sea erosion Satabhaya are going to be shifted to the Biju Nagar rehabilitation colony at Bagapatia. The resettlement colony is going to be constructed over a land of 132.97 acres. The district administration has acquired 48.50 acres of land by giving compensation to the land losers.
“The local administration is going to conduct a detailed survey of the Bagapatia village in the coming days to cross-check the record of rights possessed by villagers. Such disturbance occurred as the area was earlier a forest block for which it has not been surveyed. While some locals have collected hand pattas from the Kanika tehsil, others managed to make record of rights in their name by greasing the palms of venal officials in past years,” stated the Tehsildar.