The rest of my story will follow later, but I simply must blog this -
A public notice was issued by the Water Resources Ministry, in Chhattisgarh, and distributed as pamphlets in Rabo Village, Raigarh.
A dam is being built on the Kurkut river, except that the villager won't let it be built. There are fears of displacement and pollutions and much resentment since the dam is being built by a private company, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd.
The pamphlet states, among other things, that (I translate) "The people who are rendered landless, when their land is submerged by the dam, will be given barren land that is left over from the construction of the dam, and free efforts will be made to make this land cultivable."
The notice also says, a few bullet-points earlier, that none of the residents of Rabo will be displaced be the dam.
So, you see, even though your land will be submerged, your little mud hut that might be standing a few yards away, will not be. Therefore, 'you' are not being displaced.
Also, will someone please stand up and explain: what does the sarkar mean by 'free efforts'?
What efforts? Who will make them? The private company? The government? Which department? What happens if these efforts fail? Will only the 'efforts' be 'free' or will the land be free as well? And what happens if there are no 'leftovers' to toss around as sarkari largesse?
And finally, somebody explain to me - who drafts such documents and how are they distributed without someone checking for bizarre statements like the one above?
Hasn't anyone in the government ever heard of subbing?
The fear of displacement and pollutions and much resentment is not only because the dam is being built by a private company, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd. But it is due to the unethical approch of the company and government of chhattisgarh to built the dam on river kurkut in village Rabo by hook or crook.Till date the company don't have permission from MoEF to built the dam, but they started work in the month of October 2004, acquired land of tribals by fear.Even false cases were registered against 70-80 years old blind women of Rabo by Raigarh administration. The poor and innocent people of Rabo requested all the concerning state & central departments and human right commission too for justice.But there was no one to hear the cry and they had no option left but to fight there battle own by there own ways.If any agency could try to dig out the facts on Kurkut Dam project honestly, it will become the biggest scam of the histroy.But the question is who will do this...????
ReplyDeleteanonymous, I can't promise to dig up all the dirt there is buried beneath the mud at kurkut, but i am writing about it... that's a beginning
ReplyDeleteThanks Dear Annie
ReplyDeleteIts a nice, appriciable start.People of Rabo remebers you since your visit to Rabo recentaly.
:)