3-Tier GP Poll: Digital Campaigning In Disarray In Odisha

By SANTOSH MOHANTY

The candidates and political parties relying heavily upon digital poll campaigning in Odisha in the ensuing three tier panchayat poll due in February, have expressed apprehension that their electioneering may fall through due to absence of mobile network in interior villages.

The poll guidelines said that the candidates must not take out election rallies and refrain from congregating supporters in view of surging Omicron in the state. The guidelines issued by the election commission also strictly directed the political parties and their aspirants to embark upon door to door campaign  comprising not more than five people including the candidate.

In this backdrop, most candidates contesting from benighted places in districts like Angul, Dhenkanal, Bolangir, Koraput, Kalahandi and Rayagada of Odisha have expressed fear that they might not put forth their viewpoint before the electorate to garner votes due to lack of mobile and internet connectivity. Candidates in the fray for Sarpanch and Zilla Parishad in Angul district maintained that most parts in the interior pockets in Tikarpada, Jagannathpur, Tulka, Dalki and Labangi areas in Angul district are unreachable through mobiles. The digital campaigning will always remain a dream for them, they added.

Statistics said Kandhamal is worst hit as far as mobile connectivity is concerned. The report said nearly 1000 villages in the above mentioned districts in state do not have connectivity and added that out of 100 nearly sixty persons have access to internet connectivity that to not very often.

 

 

 

  

 

 

False Promise Fallout: Poll Boycott Gains Ground In Athamallik, Pallahara Sub-Divisions In Angul

By SANTOSH MOHANTY

Boycott of three-tier panchayat poll is gaining ground rapidly in Athamallik and Pallahara Sub-Divisions in Angul district as most villages in these regions are beset with problems as their chosen political representatives never cared to solve them.

Latest reports said that people of Taptajharani, Bandabhuin and six villages of Luhasinga gram panchayat in Pallahara and Athamallik Sub-Divisions respectively have declared that they will refrain from voting as their basic problems have not been looked into by the elected candidates.

The villagers said Sarpanches and Zilla Parishad members used to dole out false promises to resolve their problems during campaigning in every five year, but they forget all the assurances given to the villagers after gaining power.

Villagers of Taptajharani alleged that years have gone by but none of their representatives fulfilled their promises to resolve water scarcity issue of their village. The village has one tube well for over 120 families and most often it becomes defunct, the villagers said and added it was set up several decades ago.

'We fetch water from a rivulet which is contaminated with wastes of wild animals. We have no option than to use water from the stream to quench our thirst. Our chosen representatives have betrayed us for decades and the time has come to give them a fitting reply', the villagers reasoned.

Earlier, six villages of Luhasinga gram panchayat in Athamallik Sub-Division have decided to boycott poll protesting negligence by elected representatives who never cared to solve the road connectivity problem for years. The villagers alleged that they are deprived of healthcare facility due to poor road connectivity. Patients and pregnant women die during monsoon as they could not be shifted to hospitals due to absence of road, Luhasinga villagers said and added that officials from the administration never visit their place to understand for themselves how miserably they are living in far off regions.      

Coal Washing Units Contribute To Talcher Pollution

By SANTOSH MOHANTY

Coal washeries have posed severe environmental hazard to the Black Diamond township, Talcher, which is already at the receiving end from twelve open cast mines.

The mining township has been reeling under air, water and sound pollution since excavation of coal mines were under taken on a massive scale. The washeries have now added to the dimension of contamination  in the region which has multiplied the problem for the inhabitants.

Sources alleged that the coal mining authorities prefer private concerns for washing coal on a huge scale who flout environmental norms. The private firms have set up washing plants near educational institutions  and stacking coal close to main thoroughfares in the township that has further compounded the level of pollution.

Coal heaps near the human habitation have contributed to the health hazard as a large chunk of the population of Talcher town suffering from skin ailments and respiratory complications. The groundwater has been contaminated due to excessive digging of coal mines. The water table has also gone down to rock bottom level bringing more miseries to the people.

The regional pollution control officials are allegedly not taking any action against the firms which are responsible for increasing the level of pollution in Talcher.       

Katrang Villagers Adamant On Relocation

By SANTOSH MOHANTY

The ongoing tussle between the villagers of Katrang under Purunakote police station in Angul district and the forest officials seems to have reached a flashpoint as both are stuck to their viewpoint over relocation of the village to make way for Satkosia Tiger Reserve.

While the villagers are adamant that the administration must provide them suitable land for shifting to a new place, the forest officials have offered them nearly Rs 20 lakh for each family as a package for relocation. Katrang is an interior hamlet situated in the core area of Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary. This village is sparsely populated with nearly one hundred tribal families.

Some villagers said they knew how people of Raiguda went to through the travails of relocation. They have to struggle for several months to get basic amenities.

Sources at district administration indicated that the process of relocation of Katrang is being done and the villagers are being persuaded to shift to other places. Asanabahali village, also situated in the core area, is being shifted due to the tiger reserve, the sources said and added that earlier Raiguda village was relocated for such purpose.

Worthwhile to mention that the forest staff of Angul, Dhenkanal, Athamallik and Athagarh divisions have mounted search operation in Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary to trace the tigress which has gone missing since November last year. The female RBT's images could not be captured by powerful cameras fitted at different locations in the jungle fuelling speculation that the big cat has either been killed or died following protracted illness due to injuries. Officials of Angul Wildlife Division, however, are optimistic that the tigress would be found soon.

Local NGOs working for conservation of wildlife opined that missing of only RBT for months has blurred the image of Tiger Reserve and Satkosia's status as such could not be tenable now. It is high time that the wildlife wing must take the initiative for translocation of RBTs from other states for keeping the status of a Tiger Reserve alive, they added.      

GP Poll In Angul District: Candidates Likely To Face Hostile Voters As Basic Issues Ignored

By SANTOSH MOHANTY

With campaigning slowly picking up for panchayat poll in Angul district, candidates are expecting a hostile electorate who are facing hardship as basic issues like communication, drinking water, health and pollution are never resolved by their chosen representatives during their tenure.

Angul, one of the industrial hubs of Odisha and eastern India, is grappling with a major issue relating to safe motorable highway. The four lane work of National Highway 55 which passes through Angul town has been virtually abandoned. Gone are the days when it was a sprawling highway being praised by motorists and commuters as well. Potholes, ditches and broken path now resembles the highway which is the lifeline of Odisha. The Sambalpur-Cuttack NH 55 connects two major industrial cities of the state.

NH-55 with garbage all around near Hulurisinga square  

The four lane work has started in 2018 and was due to be completed in 2020. But, nearly fifty percent of the total work has been finished till date. Most of the work has been abandoned, reason of which is best known to the construction company.

The construction company brasses have become so powerful that they did not care the admonition of no less than the Deputy Speaker of Odisha Legislative Assembly Rajanikant Singh. Singh who is also the Member of Legislative Assembly(MLA) of Angul assembly constituency, had given the road construction company three month's ultimatum to finish the work, but to no avail. Angul District Collector Siddharth Shankar Swain, while reviewing the four lane work at a high level meeting recently, had also directed the road construction company to expedite the work. But, there was no positive response from the company.

Over a dozen casualties have occurred in the past six months due to worst road condition which can never be categorized as an important highway that passes through an industrial hub linking two trade centres of Odisha.

The broken standpoint at Bantala

The government is boasting that it has successfully solved the drinking water issue in villages by linking households with pipes. The reality, is however, different. A visit to Bantala Gram Panchayat will change one's perception in this regard. The standpoints for drinking water are damaged as the project was abandoned. People of Bantala have been facing scarcity of potable water for years, but the elected representatives, especially the Panchayati Raj Institution(PRI) members, were never worried about the issue.

The health sector in the district is in a shambles as news reports on the alleged mismanagement in DHQ hospital in Angul are splashed in the national as well as regional media. Recently Angul hospital hugged the headlines in the newspapers after some journalists were manhandled for exposing hospital management on different issues. The medical college and hospital in the black diamond township,  Talcher, is yet to start due to utter negligence of authorities.

And last but not the least is the ever-present pollution issue that was never dealt properly to minimize the impact. People of Talcher lost hearth and home for coal but none cares as they are dying for a few buckets of potable water. Reports said over 200 villages surrounding open cast mines in Talcher sub-division are facing acute shortage of drinking water. Womenfolks have to traverse several kilometers to fetch water for their daily household need. The people's representatives have turned a blind eye to their problem as they allegedly dole out false promises every five year to mitigate their suffering.

Poor Road Connectivity: Athamallik Villagers To Boycott Panchayat Polls

By SANTOSH MOHANTY

People of six villages of Luhasinga gram panchayat in Athamallik sub division in Angul district have decided to boycott the panchayat polls next month protesting lack of road connectivity to their villages.

Aggrieved villagers of Kendupati, Jodapadar, Ranamunda, Dalki and Bankual alleged that years have elapsed, yet neither the elected members nor the authorities cared little to improve the condition of road communication to their villages.

' We are leading a cursed life. During monsoon the condition of patients becomes horrible as ambulances could not reach the villages due to poor road connectivity. There is nothing as existing road. It is interspersed with potholes, boulders and mud', they said.

Villagers of Dalki said they used to carry pregnant women and patients needing immediate treatment on slings to take them to primary health centres situated several kilometers away from their houses as ambulances could not reach due to mud and slippery road condition.   

Most of the villages lying in the interior pockets of Athamallik are inhabited by poor people belonging to tribal communities and they lack basic facilities like motorable road, drinking water supply and electricity. Neither the panchayati raj institution members nor the elected MLAs and MPs are concerned about the condition of poor people living in these villages surrounded by dense forest and hillocks.

NGOs working for the uplift of tribal community in the region alleged that officials are hardly seen visiting these villages. They further alleged that everything is maintained in pen and paper, but in reality no welfare activities are undertaken in the region.

  

Is Similipal Going Satkosia Way?

By SANTOSH MOHANTY

Is Similipal Tiger Reserve going Satkosia way? This apprehension has become evident among nature lovers and environmentalists as well in Odisha following alarming decrease in numbers of Royal Bengal Tigers(RBTs) in Similipal National Park over the years since its inception in 1980.

Media reports said Similipal National Park's number of tigers has come down to 28 from 101 in a decade. While the number of tigers was 101 in 2006, this has declined to 28 in 2019. The reports said that the national park in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha was once reputed for being a home to second largest number of tigers in India after Jim Corbett National Park.

The sorry state of affairs in Similipal has unnerved environmentalists in Odisha who have expressed fear that the national park might face the same fate as Satkosia Tiger Reserve in Angul district where the only tigress living in the sanctuary is missing for over two months triggering apprehensions that the animal has been poached or died of ailment. Although forest officials of Angul Wildlife Division said that the tigress was wounded, the cameras fitted at number of places inside the sanctuary could not have the footage since November 2021.

Sources said the Centre as well as the State have spent nearly Rs 70 cr in the past decade for tiger conservation in Similipal, but to no avail. The national park is spread over 2750 sq km and is recognized as a biosphere by UNESCO.

Environmentalists said this is high time that punitive measures be taken against forest officials responsible for the decline in number of tigers over the years. They must explain the factors that led to the alarming decline and what went wrong when both the Union and State governments are pumping in crores of rupees for conservation of the big cats in the national park.

Recently leopard hide were seized from Betnoti area in Mayurbhanj district. The animals were shot dead by poachers. Sources confided that an inter-state racket has been active in the region hunting animals on a spree.