Former Congress MLA K N Tripathi has created ripples here when he pronounced that he would be leading a march on foot from Mandal dam site to Chiyanki air strip to press for the most legitimate and lawful demand of the families that face submergence. The demands are effective and adequate relocation and resettlement with all infrastructural facilities.
PM Narendra Modi is coming over to Chiyanki airstrip on January 5 to lay foundation for the start of remaining works of the already built dam.
K N Tripathi said on Wednesday January 2, “I have e-mailed my 2 page petition to the PMO on its one of the e mail address. It is about the plight of the families that face submergence. I want that PMO should consider it in a most humane and sympathetic manner.” Tripathi said his foot march will start on January 4 from Mandal which will culminate in Chiyanki air strip on January 5 in PM’s programme.
Tripathi said this Mandal dam right from the day it was conceived and then built partially was seen as one water reservoir that would benefit the farmers of Bihar’s districts like Aurangabad, Gaya, Jehanabad and Arwal most than that of Palamu, which was also a big district then of the undivided Bihar but with the truncation of Bihar and birth of Jharkhand it is now most intensely felt, “Our water that will cause so great of displacement will benefit farmers of Bihar while our men here will suffer and suffer one for displacement and the other for less water here on Jharkhand soil.”
The Congress leader said the dam water will irrigate around one lakh hectares of land in Bihar’s districts while in Jharkhand’s two districts its irrigational scope is less than 20, hectares only. He added, “See our plight. Hundreds of families will get displaced. No one knows how these displaced will be re settled and how much time it will take for their relocation and rehabilitation.” The leader said in the undivided Bihar people of Palamu were assured by then Bihar government that there would be other irrigational projects like Kanhar reservoir, Ouranga reservoir, Talhey reservoir, Butaney reservoir etc to take care of the interests of the farmers of these two districts but their fate is in limbo as all these reservoirs are a non starter as Ouranga reservoir project has been shelved down while Kanhar reservoir project hangs in balance between two states Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh.
He said central and state government must act fast for the families to be displaced. Tripathi said he and his men would walk down as God’s grace is with the noble cause.