BALANGIR: Balangir administration’s attempt to evict residents of Chudapali village met with stiff resistance as the villagers blocked the entry of a team led by sub-collector along state highway 42 on Sunday.
Residents of Chudapali were earlier served a notice to vacate their houses within one month to make way for Lower Suktel project. The project will partially submerge the village while the residents are opposing the administration’s attempts to move them.
The district administration plans to evict 257 families whose houses will be submerged due to the project.
A team led by sub-collector Kumar Nagbhusan, also the land acquisition officer for the project, tried to carry out the eviction on Sunday. However, the villagers stopped the team on state highway 42 connecting Balangir to Patnagarh.
Even as officials along with police personnel from Balangir tried negotiating with the villagers, the latter refused to budge and sought six months to vacate their houses.
The villagers claimed since the government has not compensated them fully, they are unwilling to vacate at such short notice. After more than four hours of negotiations, both parties arrived at a conclusion following which the villagers were given a month to vacate their houses.
After much delay, work on Lower Suktel irrigation project has picked up the pace. As many as 29 villages are going to be affected by the project which will supply water for cultivation of crops to Balangir and parts of Subarnapur district.It will also help address the issue of drinking water scarcity in Balangir town.