ROURKELA: With the newly declared National Highway (NH)-143H, a part of the Sambalpur-Ranchi expressway, failing to make progress in Sundargarh, the local MP Jual Oram has urged district collector to complete land acquisition on priority.
Jual, who is also the chairman for the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, in a letter to the Sundargarh collector on August 8 urged to expedite land acquisition for early construction of the expressway.
Sharing key map of the project and other details, Jual claimed land acquisition process in the Sambalpur portion and Jharkhand state portion is completed and work has started. “But work for the project in Sundargarh has not yet begun due to incomplete land acquisition,” he stated.
The MP also mentioned that NH-143H would connect the Amco-Simco Sahid Sthal (martyr memorial) in Birmitrapur tehsil of Sundargarh, adding the Sahid Sthal is as important as Jallianwala Bagh in Punjab and during his tenure as union tribal affairs minister in the last Lok Sabha he had allotted `5 crore for development of the site.
Jual pointed out it is one of the most important pending projects of his constituency and needs expeditious completion. BJD leader of Rajgangpur Jitu Das said three months ago the NHAI and district administration authorities held a meeting at Kutra with the affected villagers and most of them refused to part with their land.
“The district administration should convince the villagers about the importance of the expressway project and ask them to give away land in lieu of compensation. The expressway would usher in economic development of the backward regions,” he added.
Land acquisition in Sundargarh has become a challenge for administration with Kutra and Rajangpur tehsils influenced by PESA Gram Sabha Committees who claim natural rights over ‘Jal, Jungle, Jamin’ (water, forest, land) and want self-rule. They are fiercely opposed to the existing mining and industrial activities and also oppose new development works.
