Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Tribal farmers detained as President lays foundation for Jindal power plant-Anumeha Yadav

Tribal farmers detained as President lays foundation for Jindal power plant-Anumeha Yadav

Share this article Share this article
published Published on May 1, 2013   modified Modified on May 1, 2013
-The Hindu


Godda (Jharkhand): More than 50 tribal farmers, including women, were detained for over six hours on Tuesday at the Sundarpahari police station in Godda, a kilometre from the venue where President Pranab Mukherjee laid the foundation for a thermal power plant to be set up by Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL).

Farmers from 11 villages in Nimpaniya and Goiarijor blocks said they had gathered in Sundarpahari to oppose land acquisition by the JSPL. At 10 a.m. they were detained by the police and kept in the station premises till evening.

"My family lives in Seemaldhap village in Chota Amarpur. More than 200 of us had gathered at Tiril tola over the last two days because we planned to march to the venue but the police arrested us. I had rice with me for my little daughter but the police kept that away too," Hopanmai Marandi told this reporter.

"We had already been displaced when the Sunder Dam was built. We will not allow ourselves to be moved from our land again," said another villager Mary Nisha Hasda.

As part of the JSPL's expansion plans in Jharkhand, it had announced the setting up of the 1,320-MW captive power plant in Godda at a cost of Rs. 8,500 crore. The plant will use coal from the Jitpur coal black and water from the Sunder Dam and the Gumani and Jalhara rivers.

The JSPL, in a statement, said all land for its projects had been acquired "through the government acquisition route, with consent of the people," a point the company director and MP Naveen Jindal reiterated at the inauguration ceremony attended by Governor Syed Ahmed, Nishikant Dubey, MP (Godda), and political leaders, including Subodh Kant Sahai, Hemlal Murmu, Devidhan Besra, MP (Rajmahal), senior state officials and pradhans and mukhiyas from seven villages.

None detained: police

Superintendent of Police Ajay Linda denied anyone had been detained. "There was overcrowding at the venue because so many villagers wanted to attend the inauguration function. Then some of them stayed back at the police station which is only a km away," he said over phone.

Away from the police station, hundreds of policemen and home guards carrying sticks walked around villages. "Only the families in Bangali Tola agreed to sell land to the company, the rest of us have refused. The police have been coming to the village regularly now. All land around this village is my land. Its yield lasts us the whole year; we will not give up this land," said a woman in Kalhajhar's Charai Tola.

"My father is in the Nimpaniya panchayat samiti. My family and 30-35 families from my village are ready to sell our land. How else will we move to cities?" said Sujit Kumar, who is home during a break from his training at an industrial training institute.

Tenancy Act

Godda lies in the Santhal Pargana region of Jharkhand. All land transactions are governed by the Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act (SPTA) and most of the land is non-transferable and non-saleable, whether owned by tribals or non-tribals. "Because of the Santhal rebellion against the British in 1855 in which 30,000 Santhals died fighting to protect their land, only land classified as Gair Majurwa Khaas (GMK) or land listed as non-agricultural land owned by the government can be transferred. The rest of transfers - except those done as gifts to relatives etc. - are illegal. It is not possible that a power plant will be built only on the GMK land. Despite these norms, officials continue to alienate tribals from land," said Ramesh Sharan, economist at Ranchi University.


The Hindu, 1 May, 2013, http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tribal-farmers-detained-as-president-lays-foundation-for-jindal-power-plant/article4672079.ece


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close