BHUBANESWAR: The
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a notice to the
Odisha chief secretary over large scale displacement of poor, Scheduled Caste (SC),
Scheduled Tribe (ST) and other villagers in Murusuan, Chamakpur and nearby villages in the Basudevpur area of Keonjhar district due to the Kanpur Major Irrigation Project.
The rights panel passed the order on Friday after taking cognisance of a petition, filed by human rights lawyer and activist Radhakanta
Tripathy.
The petitioner alleged that the state government failed to rehabilitate more than 5,000 displaced families that had been forcibly evicted from various villages for the project in Keonjhar district.
Tripathy alleged that the local administration demolished their huts without rehabilitating the displaced. “These families are forced to live under the sky as the district administration failed to conduct a proper survey before demolishing their houses. I request the commission to intervene in the matter,” he added.
The commission has asked for an action taken report from the Odisha chief secretary on the issue within four weeks.
The special rapporteur of the commission had investigated the matter in 2017-18 after Tripathy filed a petition before the NHRC.