Cuttack, Nov. 26: The controversy after government proposed to rehabilitate slum dwellers of Cuttack city at Agrahat in Tangi-Choudwar block has taken a new turn following stiff opposition from the people of the area.

Residents of Agrahat led by their sarpanch (village head) have formed a committee to spearhead an agitation if the district administration goes ahead with the proposal.

“We have already submitted a memorandum to the district collector demanding a rollback in the decision to rehabilitate slum dwellers in our area,” said sarpanch Pradip Kumar Behera today, adding that they had the support of the youth forum.

The forum had undertaken massive plantation over 30 acres of vacant land to create a green belt near the village. a stalemate continues over eviction of slum dwellers in the city as the high court had issued a stay order on it and advised the government to take up rehabilitation first.

The government then submitted a proposal in the high court to shift 10,025 families of 11 slums in Cuttack Municipal Corporation area to Agrahat for alternative rehabilitation.

But controversy erupted a week ago after the Cutack Basti Unnayana Mahasangha refused to accept the government proposal as the alternate site was 20km from the city.

“The state’s lack of understanding about how to provide an effective solution has been illustrated with its proposal to relocate them at a desolate area 20km from where they work,” mahasangha president Subash Singh said.

“We are opposed to it as it is not the proposal we expected from the administration when the Orissa Municipal Corporation Act- 2003 in section 497 (1) (2) clearly indicates that the slum dwellers should not be relocated at a distant site without taking into consideration their means of livelihood. It also provides for decision on alternate site on consent basis.”

Nearly 220 slums, built over 70 years across the city, have housed over two lakh people.