Evacuation notice to people in fire and landslide affected regions issued
Dhanbad, August 13: The circulation of evacuation notices to people from fire and landslide affected regions continued on Wednesday. Kusunda Colliery Manager of New Godhar, BCCL, got the evacuation notice pasted in Kurmadih, Harijan basti, Mochi basti, 15 no. Basti, 25 no. Godhar basti, 3 & 4 no. Gansadih basti, asking locals to vacate their houses immediately and go elsewhere. A similar notice was also issued in Sharafatpur, Barari and Bagdigi basti by Integrated Jayaram Colliery Manager.
The notice described the aforementioned areas as Fire and landslide affected regions. According to the management, these regions have been declared as Unsafe in the Jharia Masterplan. The region can suffer from landslides anytime due to the rainy season, it said.
Residents instructed to go to Belgaria
The residents of Jareda should shift to their allotted house so that they can be protected and the loss of life and property can be prevented, the notice stated. Failure to comply: so, if there is an accident, BCCL will not be held accountable.
Locals seething from anger due to JREDA’s inaction, where would they go after all
BCCL is giving notice on one hand and asking thousands of people to vacate the house, but on the other hand, it’s not telling them where to go. BCCL and the district administration continue to remain in a state of inaction pertaining to their rehabilitation. This is causing resentment among the people. The Jharia Rehabilitation and Development Authority (JREDA) has been formed to rehabilitate people from fire and landslide affected areas. Under its master plan, construction of houses in Belgaria is also going on. But in the areas where the notice has been pasted in the last two days, it has a population of about 50 thousand. According to JREDA’s definition, it includes both encroachers and Ryoti. The compensation policy for the Ryoti has not even been approved yet. The process of allotment of houses for encroachers is also very slow. The administration and management do not have the arrangement to reside even one-fourth part of the number of people who are said to be displaced on a large scale.
Godhar and Gansadih residents won’t vacate houses without compensation
New Godhar Kusunda Colliery management’s decree to evacuate many areas of Godhar, Gansadih as being affected by landslides has led to resentment among the local population. This decree of BCCL will affect the population of about twenty five thousand of Godhar Gansadih. Protests have started regarding this. Some areas of Godhar Gansadih are on rayati and some on BCCL land. Godhar Kurmidih Harijan and Mochi Basti are completely rayati. At the same time, some land in Godhar number 25 is from Rayati and some of BCCL. The locals are threatening to carry out agitation to strongly oppose BCCL. Under the displacement policy of BCCL and the government, BCCL management will have to provide employment, compensation and safe space under all circumstances. Only then will be the decision to vacate the area will be considered upon by the people. Otherwise the people would stay wherever they are, they said.
Hari Prasad Pappu, District President, Marxist Coordination Committee, said, “The entire land of Godhar Kurmidih, Harijan Basti and Mochi Basti is Ryoti. The fight is on with BCCL Kusunda management over this. 60 to 70 people have moved to safe places in Godhra without getting any facility from BCCL. Only two families are in this settlement. Until justice will be done to the settlement residents, till then, there will be opposition for the BCCL management.”
Why four lane road being constructed when area is dangerous
Rajiv Sharma, General Secretary, Jharkhand Industries and Trade Association, said, “BCCL is trying to intimidate people. Its intention is to benefit only the outsourcing companies. Earlier, BCCL had attempted to shut down NH-32. It stopped when we protested strongly. Today it is being converted to a four lane Road. How is the Four lane Road being constructed if the area is dangerous? Soon, this fight will be fought vigorously after the formation of Kendua-Karkend Bachao Sangharsh Samiti. Efforts will be made to ensure that the residents here get justice. In this context, initiation of contact has been started with businessmen and common citizens of various fields. Earlier in February, a fight was fought in the context of Gomo shopkeepers under Gomo Bachao Morcha.”
