Bhubaneswar, July 3 (IANS): Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has urged Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to disburse the compensation money to families displaced due to the Rengali dam project. 

Writing to the Chief Minister, Pradhan said the dam was built on the Brahmani river in the 1980s, and is the second largest dam project in Odisha. Due to the project, the state's irrigation and hydro power generation potential has increased substantially.

Though almost four decades have passed, the displaced people are still in distress. The Rengali Dam Basachyuta Surakhya Samiti, which was formed in 1997, is witness to this distressing situation, Pradhan said.

Between 1978 and 1984, about 13,000 families from 236 revenue villages were displaced for the irrigation project. Due to lack of proper rehabilitation and compensation, thousands of such families are in distress. Though several protests, hunger strikes, and demonstrations were held, the plight of these families has not been addressed yet, he said,

As per the instructions of the Chief Minister, in September 2010 the compensation amount required to pay the displaced families was estimated at Rs 152 crore. But regrettably, this money has not reached the victims till date, Pradhan said in his letter.

He has sought the intervention of Naveen Patnaik to provide land pattas to these families and accord revenue village status to the villages where they are staying now.