Issue of landless Pong Dam oustees likely to emerge a key issue in Dehra byelection

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, June 19

The issue of landless Pong Dam oustees, who have become outsiders in their own state, is likely to be a key issue in the Dehra Assembly bypoll. Hundreds of them, who had settled on common land in their own villages after their houses got submerged in the Pong Dam lake, are now landless and being treated as encroachers on forestland.

Many of these oustees are living even without power and water connections as they do not have land registered in their names. They are landless labourers working for landlords in villages located on the banks of the Beas. After the construction of the Pong Dam, their houses got submerged in the lake. Unfortunately, they were not given any compensation as they there was no land in their names.

73 cases rejected

• The affected oustees had also appealed to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to get the matter resolved
• Out of 138 cases of the Pong Dam oustees referred by the Kangra district administration for correction in the revenue records, the settlement office at Dharamsala has rejected 73
• The settlement office is still pondering over the remaining 65 cases and till date, has taken no decision

Locals moved uphill and settled on common land in their own villages. However, in 1980’s, the Himachal Government converted the common land on which they had settled into forestland. This made them encroachers on the forestland and they were bereft of all benefits, including water and electricity connections. After The Tribune highlighted the plight of these landless Pong Dam oustees, the previous BJP government had provided power and water connections to them in Nandpur village.

The government had started the process of transferring the land, on which their houses were located, in the names of the occupants.

According to sources, over 300 landless Pong Dam oustees had applied for the allotment of plots in Dehra subdivision. Of these, 138 cases were referred by the district administration to the settlement office at Dharamsala.

The then Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, Nipun Jindal, had also initiated the process for the allotment of land to the landless oustees and fixed December 31, 2021, as deadline. However, no decision had been taken on the matter as yet.

The sources say that efforts to correct the revenue entries, under which the common land on which the houses of the oustees are located for more than 55 years was classified as a forestland, have not yielded any results. Officials in the settlement office have not been able to correct the erroneous entries made in the revenue records through which the common land where the locals were living was classified as forestland.