Nandapur After the Nageswari hill in Balda was granted bauxite mining rights and auctioned, the district administration has begun the process of transferring government land to the mining leaseholder. This is to compensate for the forest land that will be destroyed during mining by creating an equivalent amount of forest elsewhere.
As per the District Collector’s office letter no. 1147/XXVI-111/11/1019196, the transfer process has begun for a total of 390 acres and 416 cents of government land located in two revenue villages under the Khunbar and Hathibari panchayats in Nandapur block. The process is being handled by the Nandapur tehsil, under case number 2/25 and process number 2567/25.
The tehsil office has issued a notice asking the residents of 11 villages under Hathibari panchayat and 6 villages under Khunbar panchayat to submit any objections in writing within 15 days.
On the other hand, after receiving the notice, the residents of both panchayats—Hathibari (11 villages) and Khunbar (6 villages)—have expressed dissatisfaction. During the land identification process in August 2023, they had already submitted written objections opposing the identification process through the Nandapur BDO, tehsildar, forest officer, and SDPO to the Chief Minister, Mining Ministry, and District Collector. However, since those objections were seemingly ignored and the transfer process is ongoing, the villagers have now united.
Following the tehsildar’s directive, they plan to resubmit their objections, each stamped with a court fee of Rs. 20, from Tuesday till the 12th of the month, on a village-wise basis. This has been informed by local representatives and intellectuals of the two panchayats.
From the transferred land:
292 acres and 614 cents are from Kandara village in Hathibari panchayat.
97 acres and 802 cents are from Khunbar mouza.
It has been indicated that the transfer process will only be considered after public opinion is gathered.
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