The people, who lost their land to the Tata Steel’s jinxed steel project at Gopalpur in Ganjam district in mid 90s, want back their land, which is lying idle for over a decade following the shelving of the project.
As many as 696 families were displaced from five villages (Sindhigaon, Badapur, Patrapur, Kalipali and Paikapada) and another 1500 families of 12 villages gave up their land to make way for the project.
The company had acquired 3,800 acres of private land for this proposed shore-based steel project which envisaged 10 million tonne of steel capacity when fully completed.
“We gave up our land with a hope to see the project come up. But the company shelved it. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the company and the state government has lost its effect from August 28, 2001”, said a displaced person. The MoU for the project was signed on August 28, 1995.
“As the MoU has lost its relevance, the government should return the land to the land-losers” said Ramesh Gouda, a project affected farmer.
“We have submitted memoranda to the revenue divisional commissioner (RDC), southern division and the district collector urging them to return our land” said Babuli Sahu, another affected person. It may be noted, Tata Steel proposed to set up a galvanize plant and multi-purpose Special Economic Zone (SEZ) to utilize the acquired land. However, no substantial progress has been made on this front too.
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Meanwhile, the project affected villagers pinned their hope on the newly elected legislature from Gopalpur to get their land back. Interestngly, the newly elected MLA from Gopalpur, Pradeep Kumar Panigrahi, belonging to ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), figured among the project affected persons. A resident of Patrapur village, Panigrahi’s family lost about 30 acres of fertile cultivable and homestead land to the project and received compensation for the same.
“Like us, the newly elected MLA of Gopalpur is also a project affected person and we hope he will fight for the justice” Gouda said.
Sharing the people’s concern, Panigrahi assured to make their voice heard at the corridors of power. “My first priority is to ensure best use of the land, which is lying idle for over a decade” he said. Due to this, the economy of the district has suffered much, he added. “I will urge the government to pursue the Tata company to set up its original project or utilize the land in some other manner” he said.
Panigrahi, incidentally, supported the Tata Steel’s project when it was facing opposition in mid 90s and had voluntarily handed over his lands and moved out of his ancestral village along with his family to set an example for others to facilitate setting up of the mega steel plant. “If Tata is not interested, let the company leave the area” the young legislature said. There are several other companies who are keen to utilize the land to set up different projects”, he said.