Bhubaneswar: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has requested Odisha government to fulfil the long-standing demands of the people displaced by Rengali irrigation project.
In a letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday, Pradhan said around 13,000 families of 263 villages in Pallahada and Talcher of Angul district and Deogarh district were rendered homeless after the area was submerged by the dam over Brahmani river in 1973.
“Thousands of villagers were displaced and forced to suffer as there was no resettlement and rehabilitation policy at the time. No Gram Sabha, Palli Sabha or public hearing was conducted to seek the opinion of the villagers also. Though the affected villagers have been staging demonstration, rallies and dharna to draw the attention of the government towards their problems time and again, no step has been taken so far,” Pradhan said.
Stating that 80% of the affected people belong to economically deprives sections including farmers, tribals and dalits, the Union Minister said they have been leading a miserable life due to indifference of the government.
Meanwhile, members of Praja Sangh, spearheading the agitation for the displaced families of the project, have been continuing an indefinite “Jal Satyagarah” in second Chilika near Rengali reservoir in support of their 7-point charter of demands. They have threatened to continue their agitation till death.
Drawing the attention of the chief minister to the woes of the affected villagers, Pradhan sought immediate intervention of the government to meet their demands.
