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Bolangir: A high-level committee headed by Jyotirmaya Rath, Chief Engineer of the State Water Resource Department faced stiff protest from locals displaced for Suktel Irrigation Project here on Wednesday.
As per reports, the committee which had Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation Director, Rajendra Patnaik as its member, was at the project site to oversee the restart of the construction work which has been halted for almost two years.
But the team was forced to return empty handed after the land evictees staged a dharna seeking fulfilment of 11 point charter of demands before any kind of project work commencement.
Notably, a team of the state government had visited Bolangir last month and met various organisations and displaced locals to begin the recommencement of the project work.
Chanchal Rana, the district Collector of Bolangir while taking stock of the situation said, “There are a lot of issues that the protestors wanted to resolve. I cannot provide with a date, but I can assure that the project work will commence as soon as possible.”
Sanctioned under Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) in 1996 at a cost of Rs 217.16 crore, the Suktel dam aims to provide irrigation benefits to four blocks of Bolangir and Sonepur districts.
Official sources state that the project once complete would inundate about 638 hectares of land. While the people of 16 villages would be completely displaced, people of 10 other villages will be partially displaced.
(Edited By Suryakant Jena)
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