138 Pong Dam oustees fail to get land transferred in their name

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, January 7

Despite the recommendation of the Kangra district administration, 138 landless Pong Dam oustees are still waiting for their homes to be transferred in their names. The district administration had in 2021 recommended that forest land on which the houses of the 138 Pong Dam oustees were located in Dehra subdivision should be transferred in their name.

Admn’s recommendation of little help

• Kangra district administration had in 2021 recommended that forest land on which their houses were located in Dehra subdivision should be transferred in their name
• Its plea was that their houses were classified as forest land under ‘faulty revenue entries’ in the 1980s when entire common land in Kangra was declared forest land

The district administration had made the recommendation to the settlement office of Kangra on the plea that the houses of these people were classified as forest land under “faulty revenue entries” in 1980s when the entire common land in Kangra district was declared as forest land. The administration had recommended that the revenue entries should be corrected and the ownership rights of the houses of the 138 Pong Dam oustees should be vested in their name.

Sources said the settlement office at Kangra had rejected 100 claims and a decision was yet to be taken on the remaining 38 cases.

Kangra Deputy Commissioner Nipun Jindal admitted that the settlement office had rejected the claims in 100 cases referred to it for correction of revenue records.

The Tribune first highlighted the plight of the landless Pong Dam oustees residing in villages in Dehra subdivision. Many of these oustees were living even without power and water connections as they did not have any land in their name. After the construction of Pong Dam, their houses got submerged in the Pong Dam lake. They were not given any compensation as they there was no land in their name.

The villagers moved uphill and settled on common land in their own village. However, in the 1980s, the common land on which the villagers had settled was converted into forest land by the Himachal Government. This made these villagers encroachers on forest land. They were bereft of all benefits, including power and water connections. After The Tribune highlighted the plight of the landless Pong Dam oustees, power and water connections were provided to them at Nandpur village. The Deputy Commissioner also initiated the process of allotment of land to landless oustees and fixed December 31, 2021, as the deadline for completing the process. However, it has been over 24 months since the deadline expired but the applicants have not got land transferred in their name.