ROURKELA: The Talcher-Bimlagarh new rail line project which has been delayed inordinately due to land acquisition hurdles has hit another roadblock. The Orissa High Court has issued a stay order on the work till the next date of hearing on August 8. The decision of the court came after hearing six fresh writ petitions of as many land-losers of Nathuriposhi village in Angul district on June 28.
Earlier, in 2012 and 2013, 11 writ petitions were filed in the High Court by 11 land-losers of Keshabpur, Samal and Bilinda villages in Angul district and these cases are still pending.East Coast Railway (ECoR) sources said all these petitioners have received compensation without physical vacation of land and moved the court claiming higher compensation.
Worried, the Talcher-Bimlagarh Rail Line Action Committee (TBRLAC) member Bimal Bisi, two days ago, wrote to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik apprising him of the matter. The TBRLAC in September 2020 had also filed a writ petition requesting the court to direct the Odisha government to expeditiously complete land acquisition for the much-delayed project still nothing happened, he stated in the letter.
Quoting unnamed sources in ECoR, Bisi apprehended that if this delay and such legal hurdles continue for long then the Indian Railways may pull out of the project.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, he said, “It seems there is a pattern of taking compensation without vacating land and filing writ petitions exploiting the provisions of law. I fear similar pattern may be applied in Deogarh and Sundargarh districts where physical land acquisition has not at all been done,” he stated. Meanwhile, well-placed ECoR sources said the railways has invested about Rs 1,000 crore till now in the project including deposit of Rs 421 crore with the State government for land acquisition of which around Rs 220 crore has been disbursed as compensation.
They said the 17 writ petitions were filed against small parcels of land totaling only 1.665 acres belonging to 17 land-losers, adding, that since the Special Land Acquisition Officer is made the opposite party, the Odisha government should impress upon the court that the project work is not hurt while settling the higher compensation claims of the land oustees. Sources also said the IR may pull out if it fails to move ahead, adding, that in such scenario, the government has to refund Rs 421 crore deposited for land acquisition.