ROURKELA: Even as setting up of Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) - II or Agriculture Technology Park (ATP) of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) at Bankia in Rourkela continues to remain stuck in litigation, hopes for an alternative campus at Kuanrmunda also have got dashed.
If sources are to be believed, more than a year ago, officials of the KVK-II and Sundargarh district administration had visited the defunct cold storage of the Horticulture Division and the adjacent Bovine Breeding Research & Bull-Mother Farm (BBR&BMF) at Kuanrmunda along the NH 143. The purpose was to use nine acres of the Horticulture Division and 10 acres of the BBR&BMF to set up temporary infrastructure and run the KVK-II from new campus till settlement of the land litigation at Rourkela.
They said the administration was initially keen on the alternative campus and also arranged funds from the OMBADC or DMF, but the project was stalled later.On the other hand the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) also rejected the idea of setting up the second campus there stating the land was inadequate for a demonstration unit and other facilities. Ironically the KVK-II office, for the past decade, has reportedly been running from a two-room accommodation at Panposh with only on-farm activities on land of farmers.
The tribal-dominated Sundargarh district is the only in Odisha to get two KVKs with the KVK-II for Rourkela getting sanctioned in 2011 after ICAR agreed to fund it. The OUAT as the host institute for the KVK-II had additionally planned to set up a 20-seat Agriculture Polytechnic Centre (APC) to offer diploma courses in agriculture.
The administration during 2015 end had provided 50 acres of surrendered land of the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) for the KVK-II at Bankia here and about Rs 1.35 crore provided by ICAR was spent towards erection of perimeter wall. However, a group of tribal people disputing the land had obtained stay order from the Orissa High Court in April 2016.
The locals blame the OUAT and the Revenue department for making no sincere effort to vacate the stay order. They claimed not a single hearing was held in past six years. Asked if the administration is still keen on the alternative KVK-II campus the Sundargarh Collector Nikhil Pawan Kalyan said,”Currently, there is no plan for it. We will try and find out options to see if the litigation can be resolved.”