Rules broken on land acquisition for power projects

ATIB report on the Rampal and Matarbari power plant projects has found major violations in the way the acquisition of the land has been done. Many of the displaced people, on whose land these coal power plants will be built, have been deprived of compensation. Not only that, to add injury to their wounds, the report alleges that the displaced have had to pay 3 to 10 percent of their compensation to officials even before they got it.

The anti-graft body has further pointed out that the government must follow the Environmental Impact Assessment Guideline for Industries 1997 while carrying out the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the two projects. But the EIA for one of the projects was conducted by a foreign firm in violation of the rules.

What is most disconcerting is that the government does not appear to give any importance to the views of the people who will be most affected by the construction of these power plants. An official of the anti-graft body has said that locals have been threatened not to express any views that go against the projects. 

So far only 492 of the 3,681 displaced by the Rampal plant project have received compensation, says the study.

Development requires more power generation and these plants are supposed to provide 2640 MW of electricity. But the construction of the plants cannot be at the cost of environmental degradation and total disregard for the local people who will be deprived of their land without being recompensed for their loss. The government must make sure all those displaced receive proper compensation without having to pay 'commissions' to greedy officials.