Hirakud Dam displaced people to get land by June 30 in Odisha

Sambalpur: Taking a major step towards rehabilitation of people displaced due to Hirakud Dam project, Odisha government decided to provide land patta (land rights certificate) by June 30.

A directive has been issued in a letter by of Revenue and Disaster Management Principal Secretary CS Kumar to the district collector of Jharsuguda in this regard and forwarded copies of to the collectors of Sambalpur, Bargarh and Subarnapur districts to take steps for final land settlement of the Hirakud Dam displaced people.

The officials have been asked to complete the process through field enquiry without laying emphasis on the available relevant documents.

The move came after continuous efforts by the displaced people of Pujharipali village of Padmapur Mouza under Lakahnpur block in Jharsuguda district.

Notably, the construction of Hirakud Dam, Asia’s longest earthen dam, on Mahanadi River has displaced more than 19,000 families.

The state government has provided DC Patta of 2 acres of waste land, which were acquired for the dam but remained unutilised, to each family residing on the periphery of Hirakud Dam Reservoir on lease basis for purpose of agriculture.

People, who were provided the land on lease in 1959, had been paying land cess till 1990. Following the government order, the land was transferred to the Revenue department from Water Resources department in 2014 to allot the land rights to the displaced families, who were provided the land on lease.

However, the authorities are yet to settle the land.

In the letter the Principal Secretary CS Kumar said that the land settlement should be done in favour of people by following the instructions issued way back by the then Revenue Principal Secretary on May 17 and May 29 in 1990.

If there is any issue to provide the land patta to the displaced people, it is due to the negligence of concerned officials. Such officials should be identified and action should be taken against them, he said in the letter.

He asked the district collectors to complete the task and expedite the process of land settlement in a time bound manner and report it by June 30.