People staying near the Talabira coalmines operated by a company are now a disheartened lot. They are unable to bear with the sorrow seeing the chopping of the trees in front of them that they have been protecting for centuries.
“Nobody listens to our grievance. We don’t feel that we live in an independent country having freedom of speech and expression. Rather police forces work to shut down our mouths instead of giving us justice,” said Samaru Munda, an octogenarian man of Talabira area. All other citizens including the ladies are of the similar opinion. They also don’t like indiscriminate cutting of trees preserved for centuries by the efforts of the villagers but not by the forest department.
It is learnt that NLC, a Navratna Company of the Government of India, has started its preliminary works for coal exploration in Talabira near Khinda, the birth place of Veer Surendra Sai, the freedom fighter.
“The area covers 972 acres of forest land in two revenue districts like Sambalpur and Jharsuguda. But NLC has started cleaning works in Sambalpur district first with chopping of trees,” the locals said.
The villagers further alleged that they were mostly dependent on the forest products all through the year and during summer season, their income increases manifolds. “But we will now lose our permanent source of livelihood,” said Anandini Munda and Rasa Munda (60).
Mining snatched away the livelihood, they alleged further.
But Tehsildar-in-Charge of Rengali, Susanta Kumar Sahu said the process for the mining began in the year 2006 with Palli Sabha where the people gave their consent for mining with certain terms and conditions. But what is the point of protesting now,” he
added.
In Talabira, they are 265 identified encroachers of Government land and in Khinda the number is 114. Further, 72 Hirakud Land Oustees (HLO) are there in Khinda village and all are entitled to get the compensation, said Sub Collector of Sambalpur Anirudha Padhan.
“We organised a meeting on 12 Decemebr with 150 villagers, important personalities and the company authorities where suitable compensation has been fixed for the villagers,” he added.
“Even if the villager have no patta or document under FRA (Forest Rights Act), but they have been included to get suitable compensation," he disclosed.
But the villagers are not in a mood to leave the villages since they are emotionally attached to the area and HLO people spent more than 70 years after getting displaced due to the Hirakud Dam project.