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the Orissa High Court (hc) has issued show cause notices to government authorities for not disclosing details of the Lower Suktel dam project in Bolangir district to the tribals threatened to be displaced by it. The January 10, 2005, order came as a shot in the arm for thousands of tribals who oppose the Rs 217 crore project and demand its review. They fear it will destroy their livelihood and habitat.
The hc order was issued on a writ petition filed by Lower Suktel Budi Anchal Sangram Parishad (lsbasp), a forum of over 25 villages against the project. Chief justice Sujit Burman Roy and justice M M Das directed the state water resource secretary, the Bolangir district magistrate, the revenue divisional commissioner, Sambalpur, and the project's chief engineer to submit an affidavit within two months, stating why the project's details cannot be given to the petitioner. The lsbasp had moved the hc after repeated requests for permission to see the project report went unheard. An lsbasp survey says the project will adversely affect over 50,000 people and benefit only a few.
"The Supreme Court gives the citizens the right to information on public transactions. In this particular case, it should especially have been the first priority of the authorities to provide the project's details to the people likely to be affected by it. Instead, they preferred to maintain secrecy,' argues lsbasp's lawyer Bibhu Prasad Tripathy. lsbasp president Ghunu Sahu says: "We don't require any project which involves investment of several crore of rupees but cannot provide a sustainable source of livelihood to the displaced people. We are better off with our rich tendu leaf producing forests.'
Authorities are trying to speed up work on the project now They have allegedly tried to force compensation on tribals with the help of the police, leading to tension. Sources say they have already disbursed nearly Rs 45 lakh among 63 families. Irate villagers recently locked up police personnel at a police outpost in G Dunguripali village.
The project aims to increase irrigation facilities. The dam's reservoir will cover about 5,216 hectares and will submerge 26 villages, official estimates say.
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