BHUBANESWAR: Weeks after accusing the state government of giving patronage to non-Odias buying land in and around the state capital, Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi on Friday shot off a letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik seeking strong action against those involved in the alleged land scam.
Drawing the attention of the chief minister to the matter, Sarangi alleged that more than 150 acres of land near Bhagabatipur and Giringaput villages on the outskirts of the city have been encroached and fenced with barbed wires. The patch included lands of farmers, government, HAL employees as well as local temples.“The fencing has been done tactically to prevent the landholders from entering the area and being compelled to sell it off to a lady from Tamil Nadu,” Sarangi said.
The most disturbing fact, she said, is that an existing canal providing water to farmlands was damaged in a systematic way to grab the land parcels. “The canal was receiving water from Deras reservoir and provided a lifeline to local farmers. However, the damage to the canal system has been done deliberately to prevent the farmers from cultivating their land and force them to sell off their land parcel,” she alleged.
Sarangi said such land buying, in and around the state capital as well as other parts of the state, by outsiders who have had no prior connection with Odisha seems highly suspicious and requires a thorough investigation. The BJP national spokesperson threatened that if a satisfactory answer from the state government is not received, the pent-up anger and discontentment of people of the affected villages will take a different and difficult turn. Sarangi had brought similar allegations last month.