Villagers vote for devpt that will lead to eviction

Chatra/Hazaribag: Bhim Narayan Thakur, a 48-year-old resident of Pandey more in Raham village of Tandwa block has voted for the last time to elect a representative for Simaria constituency on Tuesday.
This is because his entire property including a pucca building, 18 acres of land and over 1,000 trees will be acquired by National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) for its upcoming 1,980 mW super thermal power plant, the foundation of which was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in August last.
Thakur does not know where his family of 40 members will relocate. “Though NTPC has not said anything about relocation, we have heard from sources that a resettlement colony is being constructed for us in Hazaribag,” he said with tears in his eyes after casting his vote at booth number 308 at Government School, Raham.
Thakur is not the only person facing uprootment from his ancestral property. Several other villagers from Kamta, Bahera, Uttarathi, Laranga and Kalyanpur under Tandwa block of Chatra district will soon be evicted to make way for NTPC’s power plant as well as a water reservoir project of the state government, in the same area to feed the power plant.
Villagers from Barkagaon constituency will also soon be evicted because of the three coal blocks, earlier allotted to the government-owned power major.
However, they are happy with their outgoing MLA, Yogendra Sao. Bhikhan Yadav of Arahara village under Barkagaon constituency said that it was because of Sao that NTPC agreed to increase the compensation amount. “ It is after his arrest that the NTPC is working to construct a resettlement colony in Dhenga where those displaced would be rehabilitated,” he said.
Sao admits that on Tuesday, he will exercise his franchise as the entire village will be obliterated in a few months.
Rajmani Singh of Raham village says that despite losing 1.5 acres of raiyat land and 5 acres of Gair Majarua Khas land (fertile agrarian land), his small house will not be destroyed as it falls outside the purview of the plant area.
“ I have taken up contract work with NTPC because after losing the agrarian land, I will need to find an alternate livelihood source,” he said.
The villagers facing eviction due to the upcoming NTPC plant are being given a Rs. 15 lakh per acre compensation whereas those villagers who have been forced to vacate their home owing to the Gahri water reservoir project of the state government are being paid Rs.70,000 per acre on an average, forcing them to move the judiciary.
“We approached the candidates standing for election and asked them to appeal to the state to compensate at the rate quoted by NTPC. However, they want to ensure their victory before helping us,” said Mohd Kurban of Kamta village, which is losing its farm land but not the basti.