At least 800 families from indigenous communities residing in Odisha's largest urban slum - Salia Sahi - have been demanding land rights under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Rules, 2007, to be eligible for the state's flagship Jaga Mission.
The mission aims to transform the slums into liveable habitats with all necessary civic infrastructure and services at par with the better-off areas within the same urban local body (ULB) and to continuously improve the standard of the infrastructure and services and access to livelihood opportunities. The urban slum is located in a forest area and thus comes under the purview of the Forest Rights Act.
The protests started in February 2022, when the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) and the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) started a demolition drive in the Salia Sahi slum area to construct a six-lane parallel road between Jaydev Vihar and Patia Square in Bhubaneswar. The slum dwellers opposed the road widening project alleging that this would lead to their eviction. In 2022, the forest department gave its nod for forest land diversion for a 200 feet wide road over a length of 1.79 km from Rail Vihar to Hatiasuni-Ekamrakanan park for the parallel road.
In 2023, Odisha initiated its flagship project "Mo Jungle, Mo Jami Yojana," to saturate the distribution of land titles to all eligible landholders under the FRA across the state. Soon, the Salia Sahi residents started demanding land pattas and settlement under the FRA to ensure that they are not evicted from the area and if evicted, are compensated fairly.
"The state is working towards transforming all slums across the state, but we have been left behind. We were told that since the land is on forest land we can seek land rights under the FRA. We qualify under all the criteria to get pattas but this has been prolonged. We are hopeful after the recent orders," said Salia Marandi, a resident of the slum.
The Adibasi Gramya Unnayan Committee (AGUC) of Salia Sahi also submitted a memorandum seeking their right settlement under FRA-2006. It stated that about 800 houses existed in Adibasi Colony of Salia Sahi, whose land is categorised as forest in revenue record.
Amid relentless protests over a road proposed to be built across the slums, the Odisha government in February 2024 directed the district officials to initiate the process of land settlement. The Khurda Collector has directed the district welfare officer (DWO) “to take immediate action” for settlement of the land in favour of the residents.
Demand/Contention of the Affected Community
Demand for legal recognition of land rights
Other Demand/Contention of the Affected Community
a) Demand for land patta from the state government under its JAGA Mission b) Demand to convert forest land on which the slum was built to revenue land
Region Classification
Urban
Type of Land
Common
Forest
What was the action taken by the police?
Detention
How many people did the police detain or arrest?
180
What is the current status of the detained/accused persons?
Did the person face any violence while in police custody?
If any arrests took place, were the accused persons produced before a judge within 24 hours of the arrest?
If the accused was not produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, or not produced at all, what were the reasons?
Legislation under which the accused was charged
Was the accused person informed of their right to legal representation? Did the accused person have access to legal aid?
In cases where the accused person approached the court for bail, was bail granted?
Why was bail granted or rejected? If granted, what were the bail conditions and quantum of bail?
Details of sources (names of accused, names and numbers of any lawyers, names of any police officers contacted)
Status of Project
Original Project Deadline
Whether the Project has been Delayed
Significance of Land to Land Owners/Users
Residential area
Whether the project was stalled due to land conflict
No
Source/Reference
Total investment involved (in Crores):
₹
Type of investment:
Year of Estimation
Has the Conflict Ended?
No
When did it end?
Why did the conflict end?
Categories of Legislations Involved in the Conflict
Legislations/Policies Involved
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Whether claims/objections were made as per procedure in the relevant statute
Yes
What was the claim(s)/objection(s) raised by the community?
What was the Decision of the Concerned Government Department?
Legal Processes and Loopholes Enabling the Conflict:
Non-implementation/violation of FRA
Delay in allottment and possession of land/property
Lack of legal protection over land rights
Violation of free prior informed consent
Legal Status:
In Court
Status of Case In Court
Pending
Whether any adjudicatory body was approached
No
Name of the adjudicatory body
Name(s) of the Court(s)
Odisha High Court
Case Number
W.P (C) 2021 of 2024
Main Reasoning/Decision of court
Major Human Rights Violations Related to the Conflict:
Whether criminal law was used against protestors:
Reported Details of the Violation:
Date of Violation
November 22, 2023
Location of Violation
Salia Sahi, Bhubaneswar
Government Departments Involved in the Conflict:
1) Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe Development Department 2) Revenue and Disaster Management Department 3) Forest Department
PSUs Involved in the Conflict:
Did LCW Approach Government Authorities for Comments?
Yes
Name, Designation and Comment of the Government Authorities Approached
Corporate Parties Involved in the Conflict:
Did LCW Approach Corporate Parties for Comments?
Communities/Local Organisations in the Conflict:
Adibasa Gramya Unnayan Committee
What was the action taken by the police?
Detention
How many people did the police detain or arrest?
180
What is the current status of the detained/accused persons?
Did the person face any violence while in police custody?
If any arrests took place, were the accused persons produced before a judge within 24 hours of the arrest?
If the accused was not produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, or not produced at all, what were the reasons?
Legislation under which the accused was charged
Was the accused person informed of their right to legal representation? Did the accused person have access to legal aid?
In cases where the accused person approached the court for bail, was bail granted?
Why was bail granted or rejected? If granted, what were the bail conditions and quantum of bail?
Were there any other notable irregularities that took place, or other significant details?
Odisha
Aishwarya is a journalist and researcher based out of Bhubaneswar, Odisha. She reports on gender, social justice and environment.
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