RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, June 9: Over 400 villagers facing a threat of losing their houses for the Birsa Munda Airport expansion project here today staged a demonstration at Birsa Chowk, where chief minister Hemant Soren had gone to pay tribute to tribal icon Birsa Munda on his death anniversary.
The demonstrators were demanding rehabilitation and compensation before demolition of their houses, which had been constructed on their land spending their life savings. They had banners in their hands and they were shouting slogans for their demand.
The villagers are in agitation mode since circle officer of Namkum circle Vinod Prajapati sent an earth mover to the village to demolish houses without completing the process of rehabilitation and compensation payment on June 1.
According to Prajapati, villagers are encroachers as the land on which they are staying constructing their houses had been acquired in 2008 and the acquisition was also notified while, according to villagers, they were never informed regarding this.
“How come the Namkum circle office did the mutation of the land which was acquired? How come registration of the acquired land could be possible? How come Ranchi Municipal Corporation gave the holding number of the houses constructed on an acquired land? How come the circle office takes the rent of the acquired land? How come power connection was given in the house constructed on an acquired land? Why does the circle office not demarcate its acquired land for 15 years,” the villagers ask.
Some of the villagers have knocked the door of the Jharkhand High Court while some have knocked the door of principal secretary to chief minister Vandana Dadel taking the matter. On June 7, widow of former IPS J.D.H.Guria, Vineeta Guria, knocked the door of Jharkhand High Court taking the issue. On which, the court directed the state government to file an affidavit within two weeks and directed the registry to list the matter in regular bench.
On April 24, the bench of Justice Anubha Rawat Choudhary in Jharkhand High Court had directed the circle officer Prajapati to hear the points of villagers on the issue but despite the issue could not be resolved.
