Pending forest land allotment to residents in Odisha’s Mahakalapada proved fatal for BJD

In the recently concluded state assembly elections in Odisha, there’s a latent issue of forest rights that resulted in the defeat of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Mahakalapada constituency situated in Kendrapara district.

The ongoing delay in the allotment of forest land to the local residents has factored into the poll outcome that witnessed the defeat of state cabinet minister and BJD leader Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak. BJP’s Durga Prasan Nayak defeated Atanu by a margin of 33,526 votes. 

Thousands of farmers and fishers residing around the mangrove forests where the proposed ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel steel plant is to be built, voted against the ruling party as they were denied land pattas (deeds) under the The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006. The law is popularly known as the Forest Rights Act. 

Most of the villages under Ramanagar, Kharinashi and Batighar Gram Panchayats are covered with mangrove forest  and fall under the ambit of the Forest Rights Act. The law dictates that no forest land can be granted to any entity until all the forest rights of the residents in the area are recognised and their consent is obtained for the project. This legal requirement was further acknowledged in an order issued by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on August 3, 2009.

An estimated 4,000  forest dwellers  applied their entitlement of the forest land to get pattas in return for the takeover of their lands for more than a decade. However, the state officials are yet to grant the pattas. After getting the pattas, farmers  will be entitled to get official compensation in lieu of their lands. 

“We are not against the establishment of a steel plant in the district. But we need proper compensation  from the state government after getting pattas. But for more than a decade we have been running from pillar to post  to get pattas. Hence, we voted against the BJD in both Lok Sabha and assembly polls,” Arjun Mandal, a farmer from Batighar Gram Panchayat told Down To Earth.

Also, the local demand for a bridge over the Gobari river also played a pivotal role in the polls. 

“Everyday, we use unsafe country boats to cross the crocodile-inhabited Govari river to reach our village. The government  repeatedly promised to build a bridge over the river. But the officials and leaders did not keep their promise for which we voted against BJD,” Tapan Behera, a fisherman from the Batighar village said. 

The forested area where the steel plant is to be set up is primarily known for its betel, cashew and paddy cultivation. Villagers here also cultivate a variety of vegetables and fruits.

Apart from that, the local forest caters to the livelihoods of the people. It provides fuel, housing material and other forest produce. 

The nearby Jamboo and Gobari rivers are the only sources of sustenance for  the traditional fishing community residing in the area.  

Hence, a spectre of mass displacement is haunting  the forest-dwelling population as the government is determined to hand over their land to the steel company. “We have been supporting our livelihoods by fishing in the river and cultivating paddy and paan (betel) on our land.  But the state government is trying to displace us from our land for which we taught BJD a lesson in this poll,” Ratanlal  Mandal, a resident of Batighar village said.

As a result, the issue of displacement  was one of the most crucial issues in the polls.

“The state government granted me  land  pattas in 1972 as a registered  refugee from Bangladesh and  I had been paying rent to the state. But two years back, the district administration illegally cancelled my patta with an ulterior motive to hand over our land  in Ramanagar  village  to  Mittal Steel,” Manas Haldar from Ramanagar village alleged. 

“Like me, the pattas of many registered  refugees  from Bangladesh were cancelled by the authorities. The authorities had assured us to record our names in the land records after we sat on dharna (sit-in demonstration) in front of the office of tahsildar (sub-divisional magistrate). But the officials failed to keep their promise  for which  we voted for BJP,” he added. 

AMNS India — a joint venture of ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel — had  announced  last year  to invest Rs. 1.02 lakh crore to establish a 24 million tonnes per annum state-of-the-art steel plant with sustainable technologies in Kendrapara. The plant is supposed to be bigger than Posco’s steel mill in South Korea’s Gwangyang which is the world’s largest steel manufacturing unit. The Korean plant has a capacity of 23 million tonnes per annum. 

In April, 2023 , Chief Minister Patnaik  had announced that Nippon Steel will  construct the plant in Kendrapara  after meeting  its head Eiji Hashimoto in Tokyo.