ROURKELA: Trouble seems to be far from over for Vedanta Ltd (VL) to start mining operation of Jamkani coal block in Sundargarh’s Hemgir block as a section of the project-affected people have renewed their demand for higher land compensation.
Jamkani Gramya Committee on Saturday convened a meeting of villagers of Jamkani and Girisima where it was decided to mobilise support to ensure higher land compensation and explore ways to take legal recourse.
More than 12 years back, 2,143 acre spread over Jamkani, Girisima, Mendra and Jharpalam villages were acquired through IDCO for Jamkani coal block for Bhusan Power and Steel Ltd (BPSL) as per the old Land Acquisition Act and Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) Policy, 2006. The land was later transferred to Vedanta.
Claiming that they received paltry compensation, villagers said land compensation should be assessed as per the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 since the land was transferred to Vedanta after 2019.
Jharpalam sarpanch Chandraba Majhi said he neither supports or opposes the claims of protesting villagers. He informed that in the meeting, the villagers decided to collect donation to pursue legal recourse.