ROURKELA: Vedanta Limited appears to be in more trouble as the project-affected families in Sundargarh’s Hemgir block have sought cancellation of Jamkani coal block demanding fresh land allotment under the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Act, 1957. This comes at a time when Vedanta is looking for cheap and assured coal to feed its smelter and captive power plants in the adjacent Jharsuguda district.
On September 26, affected villagers under the aegis of Jamkani Coal Block Bisthapita Sangathan submitted a memorandum in the office of Sundargarh Collector Parag Harshad Gavali. Among the signatories to the memorandum were Sundargarh MLA Kusum Tete, Hemgir panchayat samiti chairperson Premanand Sa, Jharpalam sarpanch Chandraba Majhi and naib-sarpanch Sulochana Kawar.
Earlier, the villagers had demanded to ensure fresh land acquisition for Jamkani coal block under the new land acquisition law to enable them higher compensation. Sources said the shift in the demand came after the Sundargarh land acquisition officer recently sent notices to the affected villagers to accept additional ex-gratia and compensation of Rs 6 lakh per acre from Vedanta.
Villagers of Jamkani, Mendra, Girisuan and Jharpalam in Hemgir argued that between 2006 and 2011, Odisha government had acquired land for the coal block for Bhusan Power and Steel Ltd (BPSL) through IDCO under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. They claimed that the land acquisition was illegal and cited a writ petition under the provisions of Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution which was filed in the Orissa High Court by the project-affected families in 2012 challenging the land acquisition. The matter is still sub-judice.
The villagers further said until land for the coal block is acquired under the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Act, Vedanta cannot operate the mines. In the writ petition, one Dilamati Kawar and 14 others of Jamkani had challenged the competency of Odisha government to acquire land for the BPSL coal block through IDCO by ignoring the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Act, 1957. The petitioners claimed that in coal-bearing areas, the Central government or its authorised agencies are competent for acquiring land.
Sundargarh ADM (Revenue) Abhimanyu Behera reiterated that land acquisition was completed in 2011. The affected families have received compensation and only one village was displaced. “The demand for fresh land acquisition has no validity. IDCO has transferred the land to Vedanta and it can start mining,” Behera said. After de-allocation of Jamkani coal block to BPSL, Vedanta bagged it in auction. The Ministry of Coal gave Vedanta the vesting order on February 10, 2020.