Prolonged agitation for compensation by displaced villagers of Kanpur Irrigation Project in Keonjhar district has brought the construction work to a grinding halt in the dam site at Basudebpur since the last 10 days.
Simple verbal assurance by Collector N Thirumalla Naik could not convince the agitators to withdraw the protest.
Kanpur Irrigation project was conceived 40 years back and has been one of the main agendas of all political parties while contesting election in the district. To gather political mileage, the foundation of the project was first laid by former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik, later by former Chief Minister JB Patnaik and yet again by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Construction of the project - Keonjhar’s only large irrigation project - has been going on for over the few decades. It is designed to irrigate 48,000 acres of land with its 77 km long main canal displacing about 15,000 people in 16 adjacent villages of Joda block. A special land acquisition division office has been operating here since 1981 but issues on rehabilitation have not been sorted out.
The initial estimate of the project was Rs208.14 crores in 1992, which escalated to Rs428.32 crore in 2002; then again it got enhanced to Rs1067.51 crore in 2009. But since the project work progress is slow, the present estimate is likely to cross Rs2,000 crore in 2016.
While the displaced villagers have been demanding compensation and proper rehabilitation since years, the dam construction work continues without resolving the issues of the displaced villagers.
“Mass agitation has been staged numerous times in the last few years but administration is yet to take up our matter seriously, so we will not allow any construction work until our demands are fulfilled,” said Naresh Sitari, core committee member of the agitating villagers.
The villagers had staged a mass demonstration at the Basudebpur Chief Engineer Office on March 16 last. The local police officer, Tehsildar, Barbil and Sub collector, Champua had held discussion with the agitators regarding their demands but no solution could be reached. The Collector also had a discussion with the representatives of the displaced villagers last Tuesday, but they remained firm not to withdraw their agitation until their demands are fulfilled. The delay in the project work is said to favour the contractors and project officials with multiple increase in project cost, who avoid quick solution of rehabilitation issues, the agitating villagers alleged.