Balangir: The much-hyped Lower Suktel Irrigation Project has once again run into troubled waters as villagers of Pardhiapali disrupted the ongoing work of the barrage on Friday demanding a one-time payment of compensation according to the Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation Act, 2013.

Hundreds of villagers, including women and children, staged a demonstration at the dam site and did not allow the dam workers to take up the work on Friday. Tension ran high at the project site as huge police force was deployed to avoid any untoward incident. On hearing about the agitation, Balangir collector Arindam Dakua rushed to the project site to take stock of the situation and held a talk with the agitators.

The villagers are demanding payment of one-time compensation instead of instalments, rehabilitation of homeless people on a priority basis, providing record of rights to the displaced people, treating of mahua trees as fruit-bearing trees and payment of compensation for felling of mahua trees accordingly.

Villagers said that when the spillway work of the project began in 2013, the administration had told them that total compensation would be paid before start of work. But after nearly five years, 60 per cent work of spillway and 30 per cent earth work of the dam is complete, while the villagers have been denied their penny.

Kalpana Barik, a ward member of Pardhiapali village, alleged that the district administration was not concerned about their demands.

District collector Arindam Dakua hoped that the deadlock would be over soon.

The Rs 1041-crore project was hanging fire for at least 12 years because of a conflict between pro-dam and anti-dam activists. The project finally started in April 2013 virtually at gun point. When completed, the project is estimated to irrigate 29,146 hectares in Balangir and 2,684 hectares in Sonepur, covering 189 villages.