Forwarding of allegation/petition of Sri Ganga Behera & others of Kapatapalli Panchayat of Nuagaon Block under Nayagarh District regarding implementation of Forests Rights Act, 2006.

                                                                                                                                      Date: 26/11/2012

To 
The commissioner cum Secretary ST and SC development Dept.
Govt. of Odisha Bhubaneswar.


Subject: Regarding alienation of tribal land and common lands forcefully doing plantation and encroachment and recognition of Community Forest Rights.

Dear Sir,

We the undersigned 38 villagers of Nuagaon Block of Nayagarh District bring to your kind attention of the apathetic situation created for alienating our individual as well as common land upon which we have been critically depending for our livelihood.

1. That we the permanent residents of Kapatapalli GP of the said block would state that the Non-tribal people from village Gumi, Bahadjhola and Bhaliadih of Nuagaon block and individuals from bordering Ganjam district have taken away our land and recorded in their name through allurement and fraudulent means. Those non-tribal people have been doing massive cashew plantation and earning huge money from our land. Despite having protective legislation to protect tribal lands and common property resources how the records of those lands are changed in the non-tribal. Some information relating to individual lands are annexure herewith.

Since Nuagaon Block is a MADA area drawing special attention for the poor tribals, the issue of land is most critical for the livelihood of our poor tribals special care should be given to resolve these longstanding gradual alienation of our land and common resources(CPRs).

This is in gross violation of section 22, 23, 23A of Odisha Land Reforms Act 1960 which says that "any transfer of a holding or part thereof by a raiyat, belonging to a ST shall be void except unless-(a) a person belonging to a ST or (b)  a prior permission is taken in writing for such transfer from Revenue officer in case of non-ST". We are also not aware about the process of which lands have been alienated. 

We pray for necessary investigation to reveal the facts and appropriate measures to restore the land and livelihood of our poor tribals.

2. That we have been cultivating over the lands, since our forefathers time, classified as forests in the previous(Sabik) settlement held in 1962 ( Under the then Puri district). Such a situation is prevalent in almost all the villages. We were collecting the forest produces available in those lands, which in the subsequent period converted cashew field through plantation by Revenue Dept, which deprived the community from access and collection of forest products they were collecting traditionally. The cashew field has been auctioned by Cashew Development Authority to powerful vested interests; ignoring the stake and dependency of poor villagers. Presently, we have applied for Community Forests Rights under "the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 " in all the villages. Therefore, we request the government to recognize and vest the community forest rights over those lands covered with cashew plantations and other forest resources under FRA.

3. That we were deriving our livelihood from grazing and agriculture over our village common lands since generations. Here the government did plantation of cashew and the officials assured us to enjoy the fruits by guarding and protecting them. However, in subsequent period cashew field was given lease to the outside business traders. So we the tribal tenants have been deprived from our traditional access to common resources and cashew field, which was assured to us during plantation.

As per the order of Honourable Supreme Court of India on dated January 28, 2011, Civil Appeal No.1132/2011 @ SLP (C) No.3109/2011, common land cannot be settled against the influential individuals or vested interests except the most vulnerable ST, SC or other marginal families. The court has directed to hand over the common lands to the Gram Sabha / Gram Panchayat for safeguarding and managing them. However, such law has not been used so far in the ground.

We, therefore, demand for handing over of the common property to the Gram sabha as directed by the Hon. Supreme Court.

The above issues are not limited to the Nuagaon block, rather widely prevalent in other tribal-dominated places of Nayagarh district.

We, therefore, request you to take necessary and immediate action to restore and secure the individual land as well as common lands of the people.

Yours faithfully,

Ganga Behera, Somanath Behera and other villagers of Kaptapalli Panchayat.

https://www.fra.org.in/document/36214,%20Nayagarh.pdf

The Shamlat lands of Punjab

P.S. KRISHNAN

Print edition : September 13, 2019

Punjab has the highest proportion of Scheduled Caste (S.C.) people in the country (31.9 per cent). In rural areas, S.Cs account for 37.46 per cent. No community has been listed as Scheduled Tribes (S.Ts) in Punjab.

Punjab is one of the States with the lowest proportion of landowning Dalits. As per NSSO (66th Round) data, in Punjab only 4.3 per cent of rural S.C. households are self-employed in agriculture, compared with as high as 54 per cent among rural SAC/NSCTBC households. The proportion of agricultural labour households among rural S.Cs is 34.5 per cent compared with 7.5 per cent of SACs/NSCTBCs. As many as 94.2 per cent of S.C. households in Punjab do not have any land for cultivation compared with 36.5 per cent of SAC/NSCTBC households (Socially Advanced Classes/the non-S.C., non-S.T., non-Socially and Educationally Backward Classes). S.C. households with 2.01 to four hectares of land are a mere 0.6 per cent, compared with 18.4 per cent of SAC/NSCTBC households. No S.C. household in Punjab has more than 4 hectares, compared with 10.6 per cent among SACs/NSCTBCs. These data show that while the all-India gap between S.Cs and SACs/NSCTBCs is wide, it is wider in Punjab.

Among the avenues available for reducing the landlessness of Punjab’s Dalits is the utilisation of Shamlat lands (village common lands) available for cultivation. Reportedly, as per the State government’s records, a total of 1.57 lakh acres (one acre is 0.4 hectare) of Shamlat lands is available for cultivation in the State. Of this, about one-third, or nearly 53,000 acres, is reserved for S.Cs and given on annual lease to them.

Efforts are being made by a number of gram sabhas of panchayats which are dominated by members of the dominant landowning castes to dispossess S.Cs even of lands reserved for them. In Tolewal, Thandiwal and Mulowal villages of Sangrur district, the panchayats have reportedly resolved to auction Shamlat lands reserved for Dalits and extract unaffordably high lease amounts from them, which will make it impossible for Dalits to hold on to these lands.

Influential people encroach upon and grab Shamlat lands despite the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1953 (Punjab Act No. 1 of 1954), amended in 1961, and the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Rules, 1955, amended in 1961 and 1964. Recently, landless Dalits have begun to rise in protest against such practices. An organisation known as the Zamin Prapati Sangharsh Committee (ZPSC) has come up championing the cause of joint farming by Dalits on panchayat lands. However, a permanent solution for this is for the State government to grant the entire 1.57 lakh acres of Shamlat lands available for cultivation to S.Cs of the respective villages, with full ownership and patta/title deed. When it is recognised that these lands are available for cultivation purposes, there is no need to give them out on annual leases. The cruelty inflicted upon the Dalits of Punjab since long deserves reparation. This land grant will be part of such reparation. The government should also provide group minor irrigation for these lands.

If necessary, additional grants can be provided to panchayats for the income lost hitherto from leasing of Shamlat lands. Dalits should be encouraged to farm these lands jointly with high-value crops, agricultural and if possible horticultural. In the case of horticultural crops, which will have to be tended over a long gestation period, the Dalit grantees themselves can be engaged to provide labour on these lands on wage basis under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The ZPSC and other organisations working for Dalits should be fully associated with these efforts.

The existing legislation must be amended to the extent necessary to release Shamlat lands for granting them to Dalits with clear ownership. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh should take personal interest in this and get this done.

https://frontline.thehindu.com/social-issues/social-justice/article29268747.ece

CRZ Land Allotment to Mahindra Holidays is illegal

June 2 , 2018

Former union secretary and noted environmentalist Dr EAS Sarma decried the allotment of 20 acres of CRZ land in Kalingapatnam, a coastal village in Andhra Pradesh, in favor of  Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Ltd. He said it is illegal and highly objectionable.

Andhra Pradesh government, which has been in the thick of controversies over indiscriminate allotment of land to investors in recent past, has again allotted 20 acres of expensive land, classified as ‘unsurveyed coastal poramboke’ for the development of ‘Club Mahindra Beach Resort Project’.

A GO has been issued on May 31,2018

However, the allotment has been questioned by noted environmentalist and former government of India secretary EAS Sarma.

Writing a letter to D Sambasiva Rao, special chief secretary Ananta Ramu, secretary, department of Environment and MK Meena, Secretary, tourism, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Dr Sarma demanded that the GO issued on May 31, 2018 be revoked. He also warned that he would be constrained to seek judicial intervention if the orders were not revoked.

The reasons Dr Sarma cited to prove that the allotment of CRZ land to develop beach resort is illegal are here:

1. No building construction is permitted within CRZ limits as per the CRZ Notification issued by Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MEFCC). Within CRZ limits, no borewells can be permitted.  This has been made clear in the order dated 6-7-2007 in WP No 8177/2007 & order dated 8-10-2-12 in WP No 169/2012 of Hon’ble AP High Court.
2. The land in question being a poramboke land within CRZ has considerable ecological significance. Such lands cannot be given away to any private party as per the order dated 28-1-2011 of Hon’ble Supreme Court in Civil Appeal No 1132/2011, a copy of which is enclosed.
3. The Poramboke land in question serves common public purposes. Matsyanarayana Swamy temple that is worshipped by the fishing community is located on that land. Apparently, the local officials have pressurised the village community to say that they have no objection to shifting the temple to accommodate the luxury resort of MHRIL. This signifies the height of crony capitalism that seems to guide the political executive at present but it also shows the insensitivity of the government to the importance and the sanctity of a temple worshiped by the fishing folk and the political executive’s munificence to a private luxury resort meant for catering to the affluent sections of the society.
4. The value of the land, as per the basic value disclosed at the website of the State Registration Dept is Rs 58 lakhs per acre (the real market value is much higher), whereas the government orders indicate the rate at which it is being given to MHRIL to be only Rs 15 lakhs per acre. To give away a valuable government land to a profiteering private company at a rate 1/4^ththe basic rate disclosed by the Registration Dept amounts to outright corruption that attracts the penal provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. In the 2-G spectrum case, the apex court had clearly cautioned the government not to dole out precious natural resources at rates lower than the market value.

Reminding senior officials that it is incumbent upon the  civil servants  like them “to resist such prima facie illegal land allotments that hurt the public interest”, Dr Sarma warned them  that “failing to do so will drag you into penal proceedings”.

Sarma was surprised that the State’s political executive should run roughshod over the State’s resources while the civil servants have chosen to acquiesce!

https://trendingtelugunews.com/crz-land-allotment-to-mahindra-resorts-is-illegal/

Tamil Nadu Fined 2 Crores For Delay In Removing Encroachments In Chennai

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel slammed the Tamil Nadu government over poor pre-monsoon preparedness and asked its Public Works Department to deposit the amount within 15 days with the Central Pollution Control Board.

Chennai| Press Trust of India | Updated: November 10, 2018 08:03 IST

New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal has slapped a penalty of Rs. 2 crore on the Tamil Nadu government over the inordinate delay in removal of the encroachments along and prevention of pollution of Adyar and Cooum rivers in Chennai.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel slammed the state government over poor pre-monsoon preparedness and asked its Public Works Department to deposit the amount within 15 days with the Central Pollution Control Board.

The tribunal directed the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary to look into the matter directly and ensure that the steps are taken on an urgent basis in the interest of the environment and the people.

"On perusal of the reports of the Principal Secretary, Public Works Department, Tamil Nadu, we find that it is replete with vagueness and no instances of tangible action taken for mitigation of the problems having been stated. In so far as the work on the Buckingham Canal is concerned, it appears to have been taken under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission Scheme and only administrative sanction for estimated amount of Rs. 603.67 crore appears to have been obtained. That apart, we find action taken for pre-monsoon preparedness for the years 2017 and 2018 have been placed at an estimated at the cost of Rs. 70 lakh and Rs. 80.50 lakh respectively but the works undertaken appears only to be removal of floating materials," the bench said.

The green panel said that the report on removal of the encroachments was equally disappointing as it states that out of total 26,300 encroachments taken together, only 408 have been evicted leaving the balance of 25,892 encroachments still to be dealt with.

The NGT refused to agree with the submission that the delay in the removal of encroachments was due to pending litigations and said the "answer is absolutely vague as no particulars have been furnished as regards the number of the encroachers who have approached the courts and its present status".

 The tribunal's order came while hearing a bunch of pleas relating to pollution of Adyar and Cooum rivers in Chennai and Buckingham Canal.

The plea alleged that there was uncontrolled discharge of effluent from different industries and untreated sewage directly into the water, besides encroachment on the banks of the rivers by construction of different structures.

https://www.ndtv.com/chennai-news/tamil-nadu-fined-rs-2-crore-over-delay-in-removal-of-encroachments-along-chennai-rivers-1945152