BARIPADA: Hanging fire for the last 29 years, the multi-purpose Deo Irrigation Project in Hatibari under Karanjia sub-division is still far from completion. The cost of the project, envisaged to help farmers in both Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar district, has gone up from Rs 52 crore to Rs 900 crore. Several factors like delay in land acquisition and irregular allocation of funds by the State government, have taken a toll on the project, work on which was started in June 1992. The cost overrun of the project was a result of over-valuation and change in price of land.
Former sarpanch of Dudhiani panchayat, Krushnachandra Naik said as per the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy-2006, the district administration had given 5 decimal against the 20 decimal to those who had given up their land for the venture. He said the land losers are yet to be compensated by the government.
Ward member of Paudia village, Usha Rani Ho said the government must give 20 decimal land to the land losers. “Since people have limited livelihood options in rural areas, they cannot survive on the 5 decimal offered by the government,” he said. Of the 847.5 hectare land needed for the project, 464.94 hectare is private land and its acquisition will displace residents of nine villages in Mayurbhanj district.
The project, which aims at drawing water from Deo river and distributing it in villages of the two districts, was initially supposed to be completed by 1997. Executive engineer, Anil Panigrahi said while four villages will be completely submerged, five will be partly submerged due to the project. Of the 880 families in these villages, 220 have already been shifted. He said compensation of Rs 2.95 lakh each was given to 469 families in 1994 and Rs 5.34 lakh to 190 families in 2006.
More than 2.5 acre irrigated and five acre non-irrigated land will be taken up for the project. While a few of the affected families had been given Rs 8.30 lakh each for their land along with other assistance, most of them have spent the money without utilising it to build houses under Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana, Panigrahi said, adding 70 per cent of the project has been completed.