[ Karyir Riba ]
ANINI, 27 Dec: The Mili Anelih Birito Community Land Affected Family (MABCLAF) has demanded disbursement of compensation to the families affected by the Dibang Multipurpose Project (DMP) at the earliest.
The MABCLAF said that the affected families had accepted and agreed to the terms dictated to them as they were assured of immediate release of compensation.
“Almost a month has passed since the compensation amount of Rs 640 crores was deposited into the Dibang Valley district administration’s account, but there is no sign of initiation of the disbursement process from the administration’s part. The reason for the delay is best known to the DC Anini, but as beneficiaries, we can only believe that the delay clearly implies that he is in connivance with the NHPC and is following the commands put forth by the requiring agency. By defying the court’s order and not moving forward with his duty of disbursing the compensation amount, the DC has manifested himself to be biased, contemptuous and lenient towards the NHPC,” the MABCLAF said.
The MABCLAF comprises some of the project-affected families (PAF) who were made to sign the affidavit in favour of the 11 parameters. Speaking to this daily, they said, “After the court’s order directing the contesting parties to amicably settle the dispute out of court, following a series of meetings, we were made to sign the said affidavit with the assurance that the compensation amount would be disbursed at the earliest. Thereafter, the state government had filed an additional affidavit before the court that the majority of the PAFs had entered into a settlement agreement and submitted that the NHPC had also accepted the settlement. Accordingly, it was made sure, for those who had signed the affidavit, that the pending disputes have been settled and the proof of agreement was
annexed as Annexure A2 in the interlocutory application (IA) filed by the state, thereby pressing the respondent (NHPC) to deposit the compensation amount. After these submissions made by the parties, the court has opined that there would be no bar/restriction to the state to disburse money, and consequently, basing on the court’s order, the compensation amount was deposited in the DA’s account and the same was directed to commence payment to the beneficiaries.”
“The longer the DC Anini takes to disburse the compensation, there are chances that there will be more problems for the administration,” the MABCLAF said.