‘Return used mining areas to villagers’

BHUBANESWAR: During an interface with Revenue Minister Surjya Narayan Patro at a meeting organised by the Development Initiatives here, displaced dalit and adivasi people of mining areas on Tuesday suggested him to take steps to return the lands after finishing of mining in the acquired land.

Patro while releasing a study report on ‘Mining and Land Rights of Dalits and Marginalised communities in Odisha’, hailed the suggestion and said that he would try to induct it in future during signing of memorandum of understanding (MoU) with any corporate houses. “Usually the acquired land lying unused after mining and it is a good idea to reuse the land by the villagers in farming after filling soil and sand within it,” the Minister added.    

The dalit and adivasi leaders said the company should fill the hollows with soil and sand after mining and return it to the displaced people. Which would be a good corporate social responsibility (CSR) for the companies, they added.

Development Initiatives secretary Manas Jena, head of the research team that conducted the study covering ten mining tehsils of eight districts, said that one lakh hectares of land have been given in lease to 600 companies within last 50 years. Out of the total lease land, 50 per cent have been allotted to the Central and the State Government, while the rest of the lands have been given to private companies. Most of the mining areas are situated in the tribal and dalit dominated areas in the State as a result thousands of SC and ST people are migrating every year due to industrialisation. “The State Government didn’t take the problems of displaced people seriously for which reason the landless people are living in miserable condition,” Jena said.

He further said the State Government failed to implement Vasundhara Scheme and the Orissa Government Land Settlement Act, 1962 in true spirit. Different industries have been continuing their business here even encroaching lands of common people, he said, adding, “The companies should restrict their operations within the lease area and in cases where the land is indirectly affected due to mining; it should be compensated and covered under land reclamation programme.”