The Odisha government on Saturday announced a plan for giving land rights to 1,749 families in Jharsuguda district, who had lost their land amid the construction of the Hirakud dam over the Mahanadi River in the 1950s.
Steps were taken to resolve a seven decade–long displacement issue following the direction of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who was apprised about it by V.K. Pandian, his private secretary and secretary to 5T (Team work, technology, transparency, transformation and time limit) initiative. Mr. Pandian had received grievances during his recent visit to Jharsuguda district.
A high-level committee comprising of Mr. Pandian, Development Commissioner Anu Garg, and Revenue and Disaster Management Secretary Satyabrata Sahu decided to start settling land issues pertaining to 1,749 families belonging to two tehsils of Jharsuguda.