Residents in Dhinkia village in Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district have opposed laying of pipelines by Indian Oil Corporation using their common land — a space earmarked for community use.
A few years ago, villagers of Kharkhari Patharkata village in Dhenkanal district had lodged a complaint with public authority that their playground was demarcated as plot under Forest Rights Act. There were innumerable grievances against government which was accused of acquiring community land for creating land bank for future industrial use in the State.
With community land gradually vanishing under development pressure, villagers in Odisha have understood the danger of community being stripped off the important resource and started protesting the move.
While the environmental players are celebrating World Commons Week from September 30 to October 9 to reiterate the critical importance of commons in promoting rural livelihoods and sustaining climate order, experts have voiced concerns over growing pressure on community land.
“Till Indian Oil recently started digging our 11 acre of village common land for laying pipeline, villagers had no information. Both company officials and government had surreptitiously planned to use village common land without seeking permission from us,” alleged Debendra Swain of Dhinkia.
Dhinka villagers have registered a formal complaint with Jagatsinghpur district collector and sought immediate halt to laying pipeline. Similarly, Laxmi Tudu of Kharkhari Patharkata under Kankadahad block of Dhenkanal expressed surprise over handing over of football field as individual forest right under FRA while villagers were kept in dark.
‘Industrial land bank’
The State government has created over one lakh acre land bank across the State for allocation to the industries after dispute over land acquisition proved stumbling block for setting up of projects. Villagers allege most of these land patches were common land.
Common land or common property resources are meant for collective use of community. These land patches are either used as playing ground or grazing ground for livestock. Marginal farmers and landless people heavily depend on this critical resource.
“While commons substantially contribute to rural livelihoods and also provide a range of ecological services, the benefits have largely been invisible,” said Sanjoy Patnaik of Foundation for Ecological Security.
