When Basanti Hembram, the BJD MLA for Karanjia in Odisha, was rushing for a meeting with Tata executives, she was completely unaware who would be the elephant in the room, or rather on the road. Villagers squatting on National Highway 220 in protest against Âinadequate and delayed compensation for damage wrought by wild elephants Âaccosted the lawmaker. The protestors asked her to come and see for herself the devastation, but she tried to wade through the crowd.
Their anger, driven to desperation by the apathy of forest authorities to their Âproblem, boiled over. They surrounded her vehicle, made her get out of it and forced her to walk 7 km with them to Kada Modaka village to see the havoc. Additional Âconservator of forests (ACF) Diganta Shovan Pal and forest range officer Saroj Panda walked the entire stretch too. Alleging that they were yet to Âreceive the promised Âcompensation for the destruction two years ago, the Âvillagers said the range officer shooed them away when they pressed for the damages.
The politician sought to make a virtue of the walkabout, saying she walked on her own with the protestors. 바카라śIf I wanted to move ahead in my vehicle, I could have done so. But I decided to walk with my Âconstituents since there were not enough vehicles for all of them,바카라ť she said. But the ACF gave the game away: 바카라śThe villagers are obviously angry바카라¦they made us walk.바카라ť Such scenes are routine in the coastal districts, but a rarity in the predominantly tribal Mayurbhanj district.
By Sandeep Sahu in Bhubaneswar
