Villagers Stage Dharna On NH Against Illegal Occupation Of Pasture Land, Vehicle Movement Paralysed

Dhenkanal: The traffic movement on National Highway-149 in the district was paralysed since Wednesday morning as villagers of the area staged a ‘rasta roko’ protesting failure on the part of the authorities in taking action against some people who had constructed houses on government pasture land.

According to sources, the villagers of Biribolei village under Prajang police limits had drawn the attention of the state government to illegal occupation and construction on government pastures by some unscrupulous people depriving their cattle of green fodder.

As no step was taken in this regard, they had filed a complaint with the deputy collector in Kamashyanagar on September 21. Demanding immediate steps to evict the illegal occupants of the land within seven days, they had threatened to resort to agitation.

“As the government remains complacent to the genuine demands raised by us several times, we have resorted to ‘rasta roko’ to draw its attention. We will continue the agitation till the authorities give us written assurance of clearing the pasture land of illegal occupation,” said Trilochan Sahu, a villager at the dharna site.

Meanwhile, police have rushed to the spot to prevent any untoward incident as vehicles lined up on the National Highway on both sides of the agitation site.