ROURKELA: The state government has halted the process of diversion of forest land for the proposed irrigation dam on Ib river at Katingidihi in Sundargarh district amid protests by villagers.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi recently informed this in the Assembly while responding to a question by Rajgangpur MLA C S Raazen Ekka of Congress. Ekka had sought to know the status of the project and whether the government was aware of allegations that the mandatory Gram Sabha approval had not been obtained for it.
The development comes as the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) has stepped into the matter, initiating an inquiry into allegations of deprivation of rights and large-scale displacement of the people.
The NCST initiated action on a petition submitted by Jugi Jugen Bandha Sangram Samiti (JJBSS) president Panchanan Naik on August 17. In a letter dated September 14, the commission directed the chief secretary, principal secretary of the Water Resources department and Sundargarh collector to submit a detailed report within 10 days.
Earlier this year, the Ib investigation division under the Water Resources department had renewed efforts for surveys and other preparatory work for the project. Subsequently, villagers intensified their opposition, staging several protests over the past four months. They accused the the investigation division of misleading them about the status of the project.
In his petition, Naik stated that the proposed Katingidihi dam would fully submerge 10 villages and partially submerge 22 others, affecting more than 40,000 people in Talsara Assembly constituency. He demanded that the project be shifted to Telijore, which he claimed would substantially reduce the displacement impact, with seven villages comprising around 4,000 people likely to be fully or partially affected.
The Katingidihi site, encircled by the Jugi Jugen hills, is envisaged to irrigate around 1.06 lakh hectares across Sundargarh, Jharsuguda and Sambalpur districts. An alternative site upstream of the Ib river at Telijore in Balishankara block is expected to irrigate around 82,000 hectares. Notably, the Telijore site has reportedly not been pursued by the government due to concerns over wider inter-state ramifications involving Chhattisgarh.
