JHARSUGUDA: In a novel protest against forceful acquisition of land for Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC) expansion, the villagers of Tilia under Lakhanpur block have offered their entire village for the project.
During a meeting with Collector Bibhuti Bhusan Pattnaik in the presence of SP Uma Shankar Dash and Brajrajnagar MLA Radharani Panda, they said if OPGC wants to acquire land for construction of ash pond for Units 3 and 4 (2 x 660 MW) of Ib Thermal Power Station (ITPS) under OPGC, the company should acquire the entire village and rehabilitate them at some other place. The move, it seems, has been made with an aim to escape pollution. They urged the authorities to stop the ongoing construction work of ash pond which, they claimed, would create more pollution and affect farming in the village.
On Monday, the government authorities had deployed 20 platoons of police force and 50 police officers to prevent any untoward incident during the land acquisition process to begin ash pond construction.
The government is paying around Rs 12 lakh per acre to the land oustees but the villagers are demanding a hike in compensation and payment on a par with that of NTPC at Darlipali in neighbouring Sundargarh district. Brajrajnagar MLA Radharani Panda said the Collector has expressed his helplessness over the issue of acquiring the entire village. Panda said they will take up the issue with Energy Minister Pranab Prakash Das to sort out the problem of the villagers.
The Collector said he has asked the villagers to submit their grievance after which it will be looked into. On the other hand, ash pond construction work is going on in full swing in Tilia amidst tight security. The villagers have also put up a tent near the site and are sitting on a dharna since Monday protesting forceful land acquisition.