Bringing the matter to light, Dr Shanbhag in a press release said that residents of the Government Colony in Kuttetturu village were forcefully evicted from their homes and their houses were demolished in May 1993 in their absence. Their belongings were mercilessly dumped. The demolition had been initiated by MRPL without prior intimation. The families were not even given compensation. Prior to this, the government had decided to acquire 800 acres of land for the establishment of MRPL in 1989. The house sites of the labourers residing in the colony fell under the land specified by the government for acquisition, said the release.
As per the scheme, a displaced person was promised Rs 20,000, along with monetary compensation, relocation to alternate site in a colony in Chelyaru village, and employment for one person in the proposed MRPL project. For those not opting for employment in MRPL, compensation of Rs 1,50,000 was stipulated. Few other displaced residents who had received the rehabilitation package were relocated to Chelyaru village. However, no compensation or rehabilitation packages were provided to the displaced residents, it said.
Following the demolition, the displaced residents frequented the land acquisition office and MRPL office seeking compensation due to them and some semblance of rehabilitation. However, authorities from both offices refused to provide any rehabilitation unless they furnished the title deeds, which lay under the debris that stood after the demolition. One resident Subraya Acharya was relocated to an alternate site on obtaining a confirmation deed, but the monetary compensation and compensation in lieu of not opting for MRPL employment was not provided. The other residents Appi Poojarthy, Kamala Poojarthy, Balkrishna Naik, Nagappa Moily, Marshal D'Souza, Bhavani Poojarthy and Thimmu Poojarthy were not relocated or provided with any relief. Out of the 11 families, members of five such families have died, said Dr Shanbhag in the release.
For the past 20 years, many public interest organisations have written to MRPL, However, far from responding to the legitimate grievances that these organisations seek to voice, one Deputy General Manager P A Jose has written to the State Human Rights Commission complaining that these organisations were harassing MRPL, said the release, urging the MRPL authorities to release the pending rehabilitation to the displaced families.
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