Chhattisgarh Government has asked its Uttar Pradesh counterpart to halt the construction of a dam in Sonbhadra district till compensation cases related to the project in the tribal-dominated State are settled.
Kanhar Dam being built in Amwar village of Sonbhadra district of neighbouring Uttar Pradesh is likely to submerge villages and displace hundreds of people in Chhattisgarh.
"Chief Minister Raman Singh has assured that the construction of the irrigation dam by Uttar Pradesh Government on River Kanhar will not be allowed overlooking the interests of farmers and villagers of Chhattisgarh. He has said interests of rural citizens will be protected at any cost," an official statement here said today.
Chhattisgarh Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand has written a letter to his UP counterpart Alok Ranjan, urging him to stop construction at the dam site till the compensation and other issues are disposed of as per the agreement signed between the two states, it said.
According to a survey of the UP Government, four villages will be affected by the project in Chhattisgarh's Balrampur-Ramanujganj district namely Jhaara, Kushfar, Semruva and Trishuli. An area measuring around 258.40 hectare is estimated to be submerged.
However, later the Survey of India, in its report, said 263.40 hectare land is estimated to be affected due to the venture. This included 86 hectare revenue land, 56.40 hectare private and 121 hectare forest land.
In his letter, Dhand has said based on the data of Survey of India, UP Government has not yet sent a revised proposal on compensation to Chhattisgarh.
In 1999, then Madhya Pradesh Government gave conditional consent to UP for the dam's construction. Once part of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh became a State in 2000.
On July 9, 2010 Chhattisgarh Government gave go-ahead for the project on condition that a safety ring will be built around the dam by Uttar Pradesh to protect around 41.60 hectare area which was likely to be marooned.
However, Chhattisgarh has alleged UP Government is not complying with terms and condition of the earlier agreement.
"Chhattisgarh always viewed the issue as per national perspective but the UP Government carried on with construction ignoring the interests of Chhattisgarh farmers and villagers. The construction work should be stopped till the compensation and other issues are resolved," the CS said in the letter.
On April 14, some tribals were injured when police fired on protesters from UP and Chhattisgarh, who had gathered at the dam site to oppose land acquisition for the project.
