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Six decades gone, still they are refugees
SUBRAT DASH | Bhubaneswar, February 25, 2012 17:21
Tags : Bangladesh refugees | West Bengal | Chilika Lake. |
Tags : Bangladesh refugees | West Bengal | Chilika Lake. |
60 years have gone since Bangladesh refugees were rehabilitated in Bhusandpur area under Tangi block in Khurda district and still issues regarding titles of their land are yet to be resolved.
A total of 931 refugee families rehabilitated by the Government in two phases are leaving at six refugee colonies located at Sundarpur, Jhati Nuagaon, Gobardhanpur, Balipatpur, Kantalbai and Katilagot.
Prior to 1950, 145 families were rehabilitated at Sundarpur, 52 at Kantalbai and 119 at Balipatpur in first phase while refugees of Jhatinuagaon, Gobardhanpur and Kaitagot were settled in the second phase in 1963-64.
The Government provided 30/1000 decimals of plot to each refugee family for construction of house while one and half acres of farm land was given to the head of the family and another half acre of land was given to each family member.
Tangi that came under Banpur tehsil during their resettlement has now been transferred under Tangi tahsil, , they alleged that record of right (ROR) of their Pattas is yet to rectified.
On the other hand, the land provided to them are unfit for agriculture due to heavy saline content as it comes on the bank of Chilika Lake.
With an aim to irrigate water, construction of a canal was proposed at a cost of Rs.2 crore. The Chief Minister had laid the foundations stone at the proposed site in 2003.However, the project remained halfway adding to their woes. In view of these problems, people have started migrating in search of work.
Besides their castes such as Pandu, Khetriya, Das, Dhibar and Sama Sudra mentioned on their land, Pattas are considered Schedule Caste as per government gazette of West Bengal.
Interestingly, there is no mention of these caste in Orissa gazette which has barred them from getting reservation benefits. Problem of caste and residential certificates also compound their problems, K.N. Nath Mandal, a retired teacher of Balipatpur refugee colony, alleged.
Issue Dated: Feb 5, 2017
