Paid compensation, but have no records

CHANDRAPUR: Issuance of arrest order by the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) against Chandrapur collector for not appearing in person before it after being summoned twice has opened the Pandora's box related to alleged irregularities in allocation of limestone mine at Kusambi to Manikgarh Cement Company (now UltraTech Cement).
State government had allocated a mining lease of 463.62 hectares of land, including 63.62 hectares agricultural land of Kusambi tribals, to the cement company on April 30, 1979, and the same was renewed in 2002, after the first lease expired on August 16, 2001.
In his complaint filed with NCST, patwari Vinod Khobragade has claimed that the administration or the cement company had never paid a penny as compensation to the 24 tribals from Kusambi against forceful acquisition of 63.62 hectares of their land for the mine.
Administration, however, refuted the claim and cited a judgment of Nagpur bench of Bombay high court. "If the administration claims it has paid compensation to 24 tribals of Kusambi, whose land has been snatched for the mine, then where is the record of the same?" Khobragade asked.
Khobragade claimed he had sought details of payment of compensation to Kusambi tribals under right to information (RTI) from the collector. The collector's office replied it has no record in this regard and directed the applicant to seek it from the deputy collector (land acquisition).
When Khobragade approached deputy collector (land acquisition) seeking details, the officer denied having the information and asked the applicant to approach sub-divisional officer (SDO), Rajura.
Khobragade claimed Rajura SDO too has no record, and he was asked to seek the information from tehsildar of Jiwti, the taluka in which Kusambi village comes under. "In reply to my RTI query seeking record of compensation, Jiwti tehsildar claimed his office has no record as the tehsil was formed in 2000, while the mining lease was allocated in 1979. Once again, I approached Rajura SDO seeking information, and in reply he gave in writing on December 12, 2022 that Kusambi tribals have not been given any compensation," Khobragade said.
Even the company in its letter dated February 2, 2022, had clearly mentioned that compensation to Kusambi tribals is 'to be paid', which again means that no compensation has been paid to any tribal land holder of the village, Khobragade said.
The administration has, however, cited the judgment of Nagpur bench of Bombay high court dated June 27, 2016, through which the court had dismissed writ petition of tribal Anand Meshram from Kusambi seeking compensation against his land as the company had renewed its lease in 2002.
Court has upheld that petitioner Meshram had received compensation and had willingly handed over possession of the land to the company.
Full report on www.toi.in