A CPI(ML) Liberation team visited villages in Jharkhand facing displacement from the Kadhwan Reservoir Project on September 14 and met farmers and affected families to hear their concerns over land, livelihood, rehabilitation and compensation. The team said the project cannot be pursued by displacing people and depriving them of their land and homes without addressing their rights and demands.
The team was led by CPIML Karakat MP and All India Kisan Mahasabha national general secretary Comrade Rajaram Singh. It included farmer leader and former Arwal MLA Mahanand Singh, former Dumraon MLA Ajit Kushwaha, Amod Chandravanshi from Nabinagar, former Garhwa Zila Parishad chairperson Sushma Mehta, CPI(ML) Garhwa district secretary Kalicharan Mehta, farmer leader Vinod Singh, Palamu district secretary Ravindra Bhuiyan, AISA Jharkhand state secretary Triloki Nath and others.
The team first reached Bhim Barrage at Mohammadganj, where hundreds of CPI(ML) activists and local villagers welcomed the delegation. It then visited Mukhaapi Mor and Kandi Bazaar, where the leaders paid homage to Karpoori Thakur and Jagdev Prasad.
The delegation subsequently travelled through Lohargarha, Bijdih, Pachadumar, Chhatakund, Jogiyabir, Amawadih, Pratikushwani, Khokha and other affected villages. Farmers and families in the villages explained how the proposed reservoir would affect their agricultural land, homes and livelihoods.
Villagers told the team that the area has fertile agricultural land which sustains generations of farming families. They said that despite the prospect of large-scale displacement, there has been no concrete government initiative for systematic rehabilitation or adequate compensation for the affected families.
Speaking during the visit, Comrade Rajaram Singh said the government must protect farmers’ fertile land and ensure that development serves the interests of the people. He said the legitimate demands of the affected villagers must be heard and addressed.
Comrade Rajaram Singh assured the affected families that CPI(ML) would stand with them in their struggle. He said that development cannot mean taking away the land, homes and future of thousands of people for the benefit of a few. Any development project must ensure people’s consent, dignity and justice.
