PTI | May 1, 2015 | http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/stop-work-on-dam-chhattisgarh-tells-up/article7160386.ece
The Chhattisgarh Government has asked its Uttar Pradesh counterpart to halt the construction of a dam in Sonbhadra district till compensation cases related to the project in the tribal-dominated State are settled.
Kanhar Dam being built in Amwar village of Sonbhadra district of neighbouring Uttar Pradesh is likely to submerge villages and displace hundreds of people in Chhattisgarh.
“Chief Minister Raman Singh has assured that the construction of the irrigation dam by the Uttar Pradesh government on Kanhar river will not be allowed overlooking the interests of farmers and villagers of Chhattisgarh. He has said interests of rural citizens will be protected at any cost,” an official statement here said on Thursday.
Chhattisgarh Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand has written a letter to his U.P. counterpart Alok Ranjan, urging him to stop construction at the dam site till the compensation and other issues are disposed of as per the agreement signed between the two States, it said.
According to a survey of the U.P. Government, four villages will be affected by the project in Chhattisgarh’s Balrampur-Ramanujganj district namely Jhaara, Kushfar, Semruva and Trishuli. An area measuring around 258.40 hectare is estimated to be submerged.
However, later the Survey of India, in its report, said 263.40 hectare land is estimated to be affected due to the venture. This included 86 hectare revenue land, 56.40 hectare private and 121 hectare forest land.
In his letter, Mr. Dhand has said based on the data of Survey of India, the U.P. Government has not yet sent a revised proposal on compensation to Chhattisgarh.
In 1999, then Madhya Pradesh Government gave conditional consent to U.P. for the dam’s construction. Once part of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh became a State in 2000.
