JHARSUGUDA: The breach in embankment of Ash Pond 2 of Vedanta Limited here has taken a political colour with the BJD trying to encash on the resentment of villagers of Katikela whose land and property were damaged by the ash slurry.
A team of BJD visited the affected area on Sunday and inspected hundreds of acres of land damaged due to deposition of ash slurry. Addressing the media, Western Odisha Development Council (WODC) Chairman Kishore Kumar Mohanty alleged that there was a big scam in construction of the ash pond. He claimed that a protege of Jharsuguda MLA Naba Kisore Das had bought the land from villagers and later sold it to Vedanta for construction of the ash pond. The villagers were, thereby, denied of being included in Project Affected People (PAP).
He demanded that the entire deal be probed and criminal proceedings initiated against the guilty. He also accused the district administration of being hand in glove with Vedanta and questioned the silence of enforcement agencies over the matter.
Reacting to the allegations, the Jharsuguda MLA said if the incident took place due to callousness of district officials, Mohanty, being a leader of the ruling BJD, should be held responsible. He said as BJD has been rejected by people of the district, the party leaders are desperate and worried. Mohanty’s allegations smacked of cheap politics, Das added.
Sources said though Vedanta is trying to repair the breach and compensate the villagers, the affected persons are opposing the work over their demands.