A camp office for the disbursement of allowances to 483 displaced people of Bataney Dam is to start functioning in Chhaterpur from March 8 said DC Palamu Ameet Kumar. All claims for allowances are to be settled in 7 days time he said.
Kumar further said a team of officials would visit Bihar’s Aurangabad land acquisition office there to collect relevant documents/ compensation details with regard to displacement and rehabilitation and map in connection with this Bataney Dam since this issue was in limbo between the two states Jharkhand and Bihar.
He said ‘ Our office has Xeroxed copies related o this dam’s displacement and rehabilitation but Xeroxed copies are not to be depended much and hence a team is to go to Aurangabad this March 17 to collect the original ones or to match the available ones with the ones available in the Aurangabad land acquisition office’.
He said administration here is working on the modules of compensation in the background of 2012 rehabilitation package in the event of displacement caused by water bodies for 500 acres of land fearing to be submerged by this dam which will affect 60 to 70 households here,
Chhaterpur BJP MlA Radha Krishan Kishore said, “The 483 displaced were too angry and in their anger and frustration had welded the six gates of this dam rendering it of no use since 2012 and were clamouring for allowances to be given to them and on the directive of the principal secretary water resources department Sukhdev Singh an overdue/ long pending meeting of the co ordination committee of this Dam was held on Monday March 6 which was chaired by DC where I took up the cause of the displaced and it was decided that each of the 483 oustees would get `1.50 lakh as allowances for house construction.”
Kishore further said, “This Bataney Dam issue was like a festering wound but without any surgical intervention the frayed tempers of the oustees were soothed and balmed by the Palamu administration and now they would get `1.50 lakh for house construction.”
Kumar admitted that the displaced have agreed in principle to free the locked gates of this dam which they did long years back while the technical cell of the irrigation department would do mechanical works so left over in this dam now. The DC said work is on with regard to submergence of 500 acres of land affecting 60 to 70 families there.