Satbhaya villagers threaten to boycott panchayat poll

Kendrapada, Jan 16 (UNI) Families settled inside the Bhitarkanika National Park after the 1971 cyclone, have threatened to boycott the Panchayat elections to protest the move of the Forest department to evict them from their habitation.

About 70 families of Okilapala,Gupti Harijansahi,Bagapatia and Charigeheira under Gupti Gram Panchayat of Rajnagar block were settled with land documents by the state government near Bagapatia and Raipatia under Suneirupei forest block after the 1971 cyclone destroyed their houses.

They have recently taken a decision to prevent the politicians from entering into their villages during the ensuing panchayat poll and threatened to boycott polls if the district administration failed to provide them land document(patta) before the polls.

According to villagers, the nature's fury in 1971 played havoc in the coastal Satabhaya village and its nearby areas in which nearly 8000 people were perished.

Later, the state government under the direction of Union government rehabilitated the survived villagers at Bagapatia and Raitapatia under Suneirupei forest bit near the Bhitarkanika National Park .

In 1974, the then Revenue minister Kanhu charan Lenka provided them 93 acre of land, including homestead and agriculture to the 70 homeless families, who had lost everything.During 1980s ,the state government provided land document to the landless families As the matter figured in the state Assembly during 1995 Assembly ,the state government directed the district administration to settle the issue.

Later, the state government directed the forest department to provide 200 acres of land to the landless people but the forest department, instead of complying the government order,constructed a creek in the land and raise mangrove plantation over 60 hectares of land triggering widespread discontentment among the villagers.

Although the villagers had brought their plight before the District Magistrate, the state government and the Revenue Department and the leaders of major political parties several times in the past According to the Rajnagar Divisional Forest Officer A K Jena since the land belonged to the forest department they preferred to have a creek and undertake afforestation work.

UNI