Rayagada: The district administration has barred environment activist Medha Patkar and six others from entering six gram panchayats in Odisha’s Rayagada unless specifically permitted.
The prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita has been imposed on two organisations – Maa Mati Mali Suraksha Manch and Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti – and their office-bearers and activists including Prafulla Samantara, Narendra Mohanty, Lingaraj Azad, Raja Ranjan, Saranya Kumari, Raj Kishore Sunani and Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar.
They are not allowed to enter, assemble, address any gathering, or participate in any public or quasi-public activity in Sunger, Adajore, Sindoor Ghati, Talajhiri, and Kashipur gram panchayats from the afternoon of August 8 to the afternoon of August 10.
“During the period, all forms of padayatras, public meetings, press briefings, socio-political gatherings, or protest assemblies in the said areas by the individuals or their known affiliates shall remain strictly prohibited. The Superintendent of Police is directed to ensure strict compliance with this order and to take necessary preventive and coercive action, including enhanced deployment, round-the-clock surveillance, and, if warranted, detention of violators to pre-empt any breach of peace,” read the prohibitory order.
The organisations were planning meetings in Sijhimali hill region along with processions in these panchayats on the occasion of World Indigenous People’s Day on Saturday.
“The organisations inviting the activists have neither intimated the district administration nor submitted the list of speakers. Although the district administration attempted to contact some individuals, including Patkar, they did not respond to calls while some replied that they may come,” it added.
The prohibitory orders have come two months after Patkar was stopped at Rayagada railway station by police and not allowed to proceed to attend a public meeting at Singer organised by anti-mining forum Maa Mati Mali Surakshya Mancha in protest against bauxite mining in the Niyamgiri region.
The administration had then stated that her presence at the protest could create a law-and-order situation.