ROURKELA: Amid preparations by Vedanta Ltd to start operation of Jamkani coal block in Hemgir block, Sundargarh MLA Kusum Tete flagged certain reservations of project-affected people and sought intervention of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in the matter. In a letter to the CM on Saturday, the BJP MLA alleged that coal block allotment to Vedanta was done in violation of the Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Act-2013, besides environment norms.
“Land acquisition was done for Bhusan Steel & Power Ltd (BSPL) as per the obsolete Act. A fresh survey is needed to finalise compensation as per the amended LARR Act-2013 to ensure justice to the affected persons,” she stated.
Tete further claimed that land acquisition was partially done without rehabilitation and resettlement of affected villagers with all basic amenities. She demanded holding of fresh Gram Sabha meeting.
A Vedanta spokesperson said Vedanta obtained Jamkhani coal block through auction and all statutory clearances and permissions under the Central and State governments were obtained and transferred as per provisions of the law.
Similarly, Gram Sabha was successfully held and a residential colony set up by previous owner BSPL. The colony comprising 495 housing units now stand transferred to Vedanta Limited on 114 acres of land at Bilei Munda near Garzanjore for the concerned families, she said adding the company is committed to not only refurbishing the existing houses but also to building additional houses and providing facilities that are required for the settlement of villagers.
Around 12 years back, the Jamkani block with 114 million tonne coal reserve was acquired for BSPL. However, the Supreme Court in 2014 cancelled allotment of 218 coal blocks including Jamkani. In 2019 auction, Vedanta bagged the Jamkani coal block.