Ranchi, April 22 (IANS) A survey is underway to identify unused land with public sector units (PSUs) in Jharkhand and use it to rehabilitate people displaced in the ongoing demolition drive in the state, a minister said Friday
‘A survey is underway in the state. Officials of all districts have been directed to find out the land leased out or given to PSUs, coal and private companies. There are reports that that the PSUs and private companies acquired much more land than they required,’ Land and Revenue Minister Mathura Mahto told reporters here.
‘The extra land could be used to rehabilitate the people displaced during demolition drive,’ he said.
According to sources in the land department, the Bokaro Steel Plant has 7,300 acres of unused land.
Former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state chief Raghubar Das Thursday wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, seeking his intervention in the ongoing demolition drive and requesting him to allow people, living on the extra land of the PSUs and receiving eviction notices, to stay on.
Over 4,600 illegal structures have been demolished in Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Bokaro and other districts in the last one month on the directive of the Jharkhand High Court. The drive has left more than 100,000 people homeless and could render so even more.
Five people, four in Ranchi and one in Dhanbad, have died of shock after they were served eviction notices.
