PARADIP: Hundreds of residents of Dhinkia protested and halted the boundary demarcation process for a new revenue village citing violation of Covid protocols on Monday.The State government had declared Mahala, which was under Dhinkia panchayat, as a new revenue village in April. Erasama tehsildar had issued a notice on June 21 to villagers of Mahala to remain present during the boundary demarcation exercise on June 23. But villagers had sought intervention of Collector Sangram Keshari Mohapatra along with Revenue Divisional Commissioner, Central Division, Mahendra Kumar Mallick due to the lockdown.
A subsequent notification was issued on June 28 for work to be carried out on July 5 after which villagers of Dhinkia and Mahala joined hands to protest the move. Revenue officials including inspectors and amin, accompanied by three platoons of police reached Mahala village on the day to carry out the demarcation work but villagers came out in large numbers to protest and stopped the officials from entering the Dhinkia panchayat, forcing the administration to stop the work in apprehension of an adverse law and order situation. Villagers alleged that the administration is playing the divide-and-rule game to foil their movement against industries that do not benefit locals.
“No consent was taken for creation of the new revenue village or demarcation of boundaries. Also, congregating large number of people at this time is in clear violation of Covid norms,” said panchayat samiti member of Dhinkia Debendranath Swain. Contacted, Erasama tehsildar C Prangyananda Das confirmed that the demarcation work has been postponed due to lockdown and no further date has been set yet.