Odisha: 200 Dalit families on the verge of homelessness due to Samaleshwari temple redevelopment plan
The Odisha government is working on a plan to beautify and redevelop Sambalpur’s Samaleshwari temple, which will affect around 200 Dalit families who have been living in slums in the nearby township for years. According to social activists, at least a hundred houses have already been demolished. Other families have approached the Odisha High Court to save their homes.
BY Sumedha Pal
New Delhi: Dalit daily workers have come under serious threat amid plans to beautify and redevelop the Samaleshwari temple in Sambalpur, western Odisha.
The Rs 250 crore project was started in 2021. Work is being done on this under the Samaleshwari Temple Area Management and Local Economy Initiative (Samalei) scheme of the Odisha government. The objective of this project is to give a new identity to the area around the temple complex.
However, the houses of the slum dwellers of Ghunghuti Para have been demolished due to the campaign to beautify the temple premises. Most of the families living in the area belong to the Dalit community, most of them daily wage labourers.
According to a survey, about 200 families will be affected by this scheme. According to lawyers and social activists, at least 100 houses have already been demolished.
Other families have approached the Odisha High Court to save their homes.
In an interim order issued on June 27, the High Court had directed the state government and other stakeholders not to take any coercive action against the petitioners. However, in another interim order dated July 12, the High Court quashed the stay order against the demolition of the Ghunghuti Para slum. The court has directed the government to go ahead with the Samlei scheme.
The Wire spoke to residents of Ghunghuti Para, who said that slums have existed in the area for over 400 years. The region has a population of over 1,200 people, including at least 200 school children.
Pradeep Kumar, a local resident said, “We are being told that you will have to leave at any cost. We are deeply troubled by this growing threat of sabotage and eviction, we are neither able to sleep nor eat. All of us living in this area are labourers, daily wage labourers, carpenters, construction workers and domestic workers. We don’t want to leave our house.
He further said, ‘Even more important, the Dalit basti is being targeted. The plan was to clear the space from all four sides, but that has been changed. In fact, only our colony is being targeted. No other area has been targeted or the residents there have not been evacuated like us.
On July 12, in Sambalpur district, more than 18 Dalit, Adivasi and Bahujan organizations demonstrated against the High Court’s decision.
Social activist Balkishore Chhattar told The Wire that there has been a continuous demand (by slum dwellers) for the ownership of the land from the government for a long time. However, the government ignored their demand and can now hand over land to companies in the name of redevelopment.
He further said, “Besides this, the government has not yet formulated any rehabilitation plan for the people who are being evicted. If the slum dwellers of Ghunghuti Para are evicted, it will negatively affect their life, livelihood and education of children.
He further said that under the Samlei scheme, the eviction of the people who have lived in Ghunghuti Para for 400 years is being understood that the government is going to sell their rightful land to the corporates at the rate of whips.
Meanwhile, the state government has claimed that each displaced family will be given an amount of Rs 75,000 and an assistance of Rs 3 lakh under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
At the same time, social activists say that the government’s claims are not enough, and moreover it has ignored the demand of local residents who do not want to be evicted.
Madhusudan, an activist working with marginalized communities in Odisha, said, “This project has been going on for a long time. The government has claimed to provide compensation and rehabilitation to the displaced people. Some people have registered for the scheme (compensation under PM Awas), while some were forced to do so. The ground reality is that at least 100 families are fighting against being evicted and demolished from their homes. Those who had registered are being removed.
He said that people settled for 400 years are being deprived of their livelihood, income, education and security in the name of religion and faith.
Courtesy : The Wire
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