Thousands of tribals in six Gram Panchayats of Bisra and lathikata blocks congregated at Uditnagar ground on Friday, opposing the proposal of State Urban Development department to include their areas in proposed boundary of the Rourkela Municipal Corporation through its notification on November 15 last.
Source said the tribals of 21 revenue villages of Kalunga, Jhartaranga, Jalda and Chikatmati panchayats of lathikata Block and Jagda and Jhirpani panchayats of Bisra Block took out separate processions through two different ways and congregated at Uditnagar ground under the banner of Sundargarh District Adivasi Banchao Manch.
There, the speakers under the leadership of Mohanlal Kissan warned of fighting with arms and ammunitions if their demand went unheeded.
“The Rourkela city has been built up in the lands of our ancestral property. But we lost our identity as we were displaced from our villages. Still, we are humiliated. Now, a conspiracy is on to rehabilitate the coastal people in our area, occupying our land by including us in the municipal corporation. In the coastal area, many people are landless due to cyclone and flood and hence, they are trying to intrude into our lands. Without involving with the problems of the tribals, now they are MlAs and Ministers with our votes. So, we have to give them befitting reply in appropriate time,” exhorted the tribal leaders addressing the gathering.
If required, we will knock the door of the High Court and the Supreme Court against the decision of the Government, said the leaders.
They further alleged that many villages of Kalunga, Jhartaranga and Chikatmati are irrigated land and the inhabitants depend on agriculture. If these areas get included in the municipal corporation, the people will lose their bread and butter as the kisam of land will be changed. About 70 per cent of the population of 21 villages belongs to tribal community. So, including them in the corporation will ultimately blemish the culture and tradition of the tribal people, which are protected through PESA. They also submitted an objection to the EO, Rourkela Municipality, Collector, Sundargarh, Secretary, Panchayatiraj and Secretary, Urban Development.
While BJP leader Jual Oram and Congress leader Prafulla Sunani expressed their solidarity to the demonstration of the tribals, both the leaders have also criticized the Government and local MlAs for their failure in including the areas adjacent to Rourkela either in municipality or in panchayats.
Alleging the double standards of the Government, Sunani said prior to 1996, many areas which were in NAC (ST) are now neither in the municipality nor in panchayats. “Giving assurance to include these areas in municipality, Minister Subrat Tarai had won the elections and now, he is betraying the people. So, Tarai should clear his standpoint,” he said, urging the inclusion of Balijori, Dharamdihi, Gopabandhunagar, Nabakrushna Nagar, Bhanja colony, IDl Colony, Construction Colony, Kainthabasa, Utkal Nagar, lokanath Market, Tarapur, laltanki, Britania Colony, Burudi, Tangarpali, Auto Colony, Tilkanagar, Phulbari, luakera and Hamirpur etc in the proposed corporation leaving the 21 villages of six panchayats.
Similarly criticizing the decision of the Government to include the six panchayats in the corporation, the BSP alleged that it is a conspiracy to remove the ST and SC people from the district. So with this, it seems the corporation status to Rourkela is very remote unless the Government changes its mind, feel the intellectuals here.
Meanwhile, hundreds of villagers near Sambalpur headquarters town have also expressed their unwillingness to get included under the new Sambalpur Municipal Corporation.
After the State Government declared Sambalpur Municipality as Corporation, the nearby villages were included under it. But the residents of most villages now decline to come under the corporation. They have also informed their unwillingness to the Collector of Sambalpur Balwant Singh.
It needs to be mentioned here that the Sambalpur Municipality, Hirakud and Burla NACs, and a few villages close to the town - Gulabandh, Maltigundrpur, Gunderpur, Chhatabar, Sargipali, Badtikra and Gulunda etc are the areas of the new corporation. But most of the people of these villages now say no to the corporation. They alleged before Collector Singh that without their consent they have been included under the new corporation. “We, in no way, will get benefitted from the corporation,” said Manabhanjan Bhorasagar and many others. “Moreover, no resolution has been passed in the Palli Sabha for this purpose,” they said.
Further, the villagers of Mathpali, Khandual, Khairpali, Naxapali and Putibandh are also of the similar opinion and they are unwilling to join the corporation periphery. “We will get no benefit from the corporation. Simply, we will be taxed. At the same time, we have to face the unwanted rules and regulations of the corporation although we in true sense live in the villages,” they clarified.
Some areas under Sambalpur Municipality like Bhatra, Tangarpali, Durgapali and Gopalpali hardly enjoy the benefit and the facilities of the municipality. “The municipality means a few areas of the town belonging to the influential persons. We will continue to be neglected and have to spend our hard earned money as tax. Hence, we are not at all willing to come under the corporation,” argued Mahendra Mishra and many others.