RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, June 1: Namkum circle officer Vinod Prajapati has said that the land in Hethu village over which the villagers are claiming their rights had been acquired way back in 2009 for the expansion of the Birsa Munda airport.
Concluding the proceedings initiated after issuance of an encroachment notice on December 7 last year to villagers having their land in the periphery of the Birsa Munda Airport, the circle officer, in his order on May 5 did not justify any claim of villagers on the land. The villagers had knocked the door of Jharkhand High Court.
According to him, the land on which the villagers claim their right has already been acquired in 2009 and the acquisition has already been notified.
Ranchi deputy commissioner Rahul Kumar Sinha made the copy of the order available when approached for the same following trouble with the Airport Authority of India (AAI) officials at Hethu village yesterday when they had gone to inform the land occupants to vacate the land within 24 hours.
The circle officer gave the order in the light of Jharkhand High Court order given on April 24 directing him to conclude the proceedings initiated after issuance of an encroachment notice on December 7.
Meanwhile, the villagers took strong exception to the order saying it was given without hearing them.
“The court had directed the CO to grant an opportunity of hearing to the villagers who had approached court but the CO did not do so. He always remained out of the office and never heard the villagers. We wanted to tell the CO how the construction was allowed and the registry of the acquired land continued when the land had been acquired by the government. Where were he and his officials that time? For the administration it may be a minor thing but for those who have spent the life term savings in house construction it is not a minor thing,” a villager said.
Notably, as per the MoU, a total of 303.62 acres of land will be transferred to the AAI by the State Government, of which 301.12 acres will be transferred in the first phase. Of the 301.12 acres, which has been acquired by the Government, 273.78 acres of land will be made available on lease for 30 years at the rate of Rs 1.00 per annum. The remaining 27.34 acres of land will be provided free of cost on the basis of ownership to replace it with 27.31 acres of land of the army.
Another villager echoed the same saying it was wrong on the part of the CO to treat us as encroachers. “We are landowners but nothing was done for our rehabilitation and compensation,” he added.
“Some of us were provided land for house construction but that the land is not clear and the government so far has not removed hurdles for house construction there. The land which has been provided is full of trees and we have been asked not to cut it,” another villager said.
Another villager said: “Several cases are pending in the matter before the Jharkhand High Court. How come the CO tells us encroachers without disposal of those cases.”
Meanwhile, a section of the villagers handed a memorandum to DC Sinha requesting him to ensure that no-coercive step be taken till redressal of villager’s issue.
The representation refers to three petitions pending before the Jharkhand High Court. The numbers include WP(C) 2642 of 2023 Vineeta Guria & Ors. v/s The State of Jharkhand & Ors. 2) , WP(C) 3042 of 2023 – Lal Badri Nath Shahdeo v/s The State of Jharkhand & Ors and WP(C) No. 918 of 2023. The petitions raise several disputes involving land acquisition and rehabilitation and thus villagers requested the DC to ensure that no coercive step is taken.
