a day ago
OHRC asks govt to pay Rs 20k interim aid to families ‘evicted' for airstrip
Bhubaneswar: Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has asked the govt to pay an interim compensation of Rs 20,000 to each of the 26 families who were evicted by the Mayurbhanj administration on March 26 for the development of Dandbose airstrip under Rairangpur block.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
Out of the 43 evicted families, 17 have already received assistance under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).
OHRC passed the order on July 29 after hearing a petition filed by affected residents of Pokharia village and activists, including Biswapriya Kanungo and Narendra Mohanty, on April 8.
The affected persons present at the hearing submitted that they never gave consent to vacate their land. They were evicted forcibly with only one month's notice, during summer.
Earlier, the Rairangpur tehsildar and other officials disconnected electricity supply to their houses without listening to their requests, they alleged.
Despite the recommendations of the commission, temporary shelters were not provided to the affected, stated the OHRC order. "In the scorching heat, 43 families of tribals residing on the govt land under Rairangpur tehsil were evicted without following the procedure of law, resulting in a violation of human rights," the order added.
The commission took cognisance of the matter and recommended that the Mayurbhanj collector provide immediate temporary shelter to the affected people. The investigating wing of the commission also visited the site. A report was also furnished by the district collector, tehsildar and BDO concerned.
However, the Mayurbhanj administration, in its report, stated that there was no forcible eviction. "As they were residing by encroaching on the govt land identified for the development of Dandbose airstrip under the UDAN scheme in the public interest, they were evicted by following the due procedure of law," read the report.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
Taking note of the facts and circumstances, the commission recommended that the Mayurbhanj collector pay interim compensation to the head of each evicted family, excluding those who were given house-building assistance prior to the eviction, within two months.
