Odisha villagers suffer as landowner fences off PMGSY road constructed on his land

Opposing the construction of a road under Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana on his private land, the owner of the plot has built fences in the middle of the road causing trouble for villagers. Thanks to the rift between the landowner and the officials concerned, villagers have to bear the brunt.

The bizarre incident has been reported from Sahupada village under the Pallahara sub-division of Angul district.

Sources said a road under Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana was sanctioned for the village. However, the government road happened to cross over a patch of land belonging to a local who had vehemently opposed the road construction on his private land.

However, despite the landowner’s warning, the contractor allegedly constructed the road on his land, forcing him to build a fence on it. With both the contractor and the landowner adamant about not vacating the land, poor villagers have to bear the brunt.

“We had sought demarcation and the land belongs to us. However, in the absence of my children, they built the road without seeking our permission. So, we have built the fences,” alleged the landowner.

When contacted, the local Tehsildar Akankhya Mahapatra said, “We had sent a person for preliminary verification. The verification report states that a person claims that the land belongs to him and has constructed a fence to stop the road construction. However, there was already a road before. The new road was built in the same place under Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana.” 

Instead of constructing a fence and putting people in a problem, the man claiming to own the land should approach the court, the tehsildar added.