Process to identify land for Pong oustees on: Thakur

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, December 12

While replying to a debate initiated on the plight of Pong Dam oustees by independent MLA from Dehra, Hoshiar Singh, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said that as per the High Court order the Deputy Commissioners of all the districts have been asked to look for land which can be allotted to the Pong Dam oustees.

He said that the Deputy Commissioners were in the process of identifying the land. The CM said that after the land was identified the issue would be discussed at the chief secretary level between Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh.

The High Court had directed the Himachal government to identify land within the state for the left-out Pong Dam oustees and had directed that the Rajasthan government should bear the cost of the land. Hoshiar Singh, earlier initiating the debate, said that in case the state government fails to find suitable land for the oustees, it should reduce the level of Pong Dam reservoir so that the land saved could be given to oustees. He said if the Rajasthan government was not sensitive towards the Pong Dam oustees who parted with their lands and villages for Pong Dam reservoir the Himachal government should be sensitive towards them.

Hoshiar Singh said that 75,268-acre land in 339 villages was acquired for the Pong Dam reservoir in Kangra district of Himachal. While 226 villages were totally uprooted, 113 villages were uprooted partially. As many as 20,722 families from Dehra sub division of Kangra district were uprooted out of which 16,352 were eligible for allotment of land in reserve pool area in Ganganagar district of Rajasthan. Out these, 15,214 families applied for land in Rajasthan but just 12,027 were allotted. The locals encroached upon the land allotted to the oustees in many cases who have been left fighting cases in court, he alleged.