KIOCL closure: Many still await Ashraya sites

BENGALURU: After Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL) closed its mining activities in 2005, hundreds of people were rendered not only jobless, but also homeless. Cut to the present, and as many as 165 families staying in the Kudremukh Notified Area still await allotment of Ashraya sites and several other facilities. Over the past decade, their demands for compensation and rehabilitation have fallen on deaf ears, and successive deputy commissioners in Chikkamagaluru have failed to address their concerns.

These families have appealed to the Chief Minister to intervene and allot Ashraya sites to them in the identified 10 acres of revenue land in Kalasa Mavinkere village. They presently live in the dilapidated Kudremukh Labour Colony, Vinobha Nagar.

While sharing their plight with The New Indian Express, Subhash, a former worker, said, “Since 2005, all of us are without a source of income. With no compensation in sight, we are literally on the streets. We have been asking for compensation from both the company and the state government, but till date our issues remain unresolved.”

“The Labour Colony lacks proper accommodation and many are forced to live in tent like sheds. During monsoons, our condition worsens and many fall sick. We also have to bear attacks from wild animals every now and then,” he added.

CM and the DC. Our issues have been pending for so long. How long should we wait for shelter? So many family members have died in these harsh surroundings waiting for compensation and rehabilitation,” said Seena Bariga, Kudremukh Adisuchitha Pradesha Nirasrithara Sangha president.

Plan stuck in red tape ?

In 2012, the then deputy commissioner had allotted 10 acres of revenue land in Kalasa Mavinkere village in Survey Number 85. This was for carving out Ashraya sites so that the families could build their own homes. But after this, the district administration failed to allot sites under Ashraya scheme. Later, in 2015, a few social workers took up their cause with the authorities concerned. Subsequently, Chief Officer, Kudremukh Notified Area wrote to the DC to allot Ashraya sites to these families. In 2016, the DC assured allotment of sites and also formed a committee. It was followed by a joint survey by revenue and panchayat departments. The survey revealed that 165 families were still residing in the ‘Labour Colony’ which was a notified area. So, the committee prepared a beneficiary list for sending it to Rajiv Gandhi Vasthi Nigam for providing the site ownership certificates. But this did not happen.Meanwhile, district officials told TNIE that there were technical problems and so the allotment of sites had got delayed.