Jharasuguda, 27th Sept 2025: : The world’s longest river dam, the Hirakud Dam, has completed 68 years. This massive project in independent India was dedicated to the nation by India’s first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, on January 13, 1957, with the aim of national development. Due to this dam, 365 villages, 200 temples, and about 185,000 acres of land were submerged under 742 square kilometers of water reservoir. Around 26,501 families were displaced, but even after seven decades, many displaced families have not received compensation. They continue to live a precarious life without proper housing.
These displaced families currently reside across five districts of Odisha and three districts of Chhattisgarh. These districts include Sambalpur, Sundargarh, Subarnapur, Bargarh, Surguja, Rayagada, and Surajpur. Although belatedly, the Odisha government’s revenue department issued a directive on January 30, 2002 (letter no. 5531), instructing district collectors to provide 10 decimal housing plots to each displaced family.
According to reports, in 25 years, only 4,000 pattas (land deeds) have been distributed to displaced families. Nearly 80,000 families are still awaiting justice and remain like “watchful birds,” hoping for their due. Time is slipping away, and the suffering of displaced people is increasing.
While the government is busy counting stray dogs, it seems to have forgotten the sacrifices and hardships borne by these displaced people for the country’s welfare, which is a matter of deep regret.
Therefore, on the upcoming September 20 at 10 AM, more than a hundred Hirakud displaced families will gather for a protest in front of the office of the Northern Region Revenue Commissioner in Sambalpur with their demands. This was announced in a press release by Loknath Sahu, President of the Hirakud Displaced Welfare Committee, Sambalpur.
Among their demands are:
- To provide 10 decimal housing plots to each displaced family as per the earlier directives,
- To issue displaced person certificates to all families,
- Computerization of records in the Lakhnapur Tahasil office,
- Identification of the boundaries of land parcels for which pattas have been issued,
- Compliance with the National Human Rights Commission’s instructions,
- And to reconsider the rejected applications of displaced families.