A fisherman nad the upcoming IOCL plant in Paradip. Telegraph picture

Paradip, June 15: Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), engaged in undertaking the oil refinery project near Paradip, has agreed to pay relief to the project-affected fishermen. Traditional inland fishermen had drawn Orissa High Court’s attention to the adverse effects of a bridge being constructed at the site.

“The IOCL has taken note of the plight of fishing because of the project. It has agreed that oil company officials would pay compensation to the tune of Rs 4.50 lakh towards the affected inland fishermen communities,” said Jagatsinghpur collector Narayan Chandra Jena.

The relief would be disbursed through officials of the district fisheries. Representatives of the fishermen communities would have to submit the list of beneficiaries. After it was cross-checked, the amount would be distributed to the fishermen, officials said. Earlier, the district administration, acting on the high court’s directions, had deliberated on the issue with the IOCL, stakeholders and representatives of the fishermen communities.

“The matter has been amicably settled. The grievances of the affected fishermen have been addressed and the IOCL is ready to compensate them,” said Kujang tehsildar Vasudev Behera. The proposed bridge over the Patakana rivulet, a tributary of the Mahanadi river, would plug the free flow of water and drastically reduce the fish catch, said one of the fishermen.

“The bridge is an important component of the oil refinery project that is being undertaken by the IOC. It should not be stopped. However, the high court had observed that the company should address to the loss of livelihood stakes of the affected fishermen. The demands of fishermen were also justified,” said Pradhan.

“Fishermen communities had demanded ex-gratia from the company to compensate the loss in fish catch. I am happy to learn that the fishermen will get some compensation regardless of the amount,” said Jagatsinghpur MP Bibhu Prasad Tarai.

“As desired by the high court, the administration had sent a report apprising the court of amicable settlement,” said Jena. “Though the construction work of the bridge at Abhayachandrapur is yet to begin, the IOCL has initiated tender bidding process. The Patakana rivulet over which thousands of traditional fishermen are dependent for livelihood is choked with several artificial barriers. As many as six bridges have come up over it. Thus one more bridge at strategic Abhayachandrapur would spell the death knell for poor fishermen’s avocation,” said Pitambar Tarai, one of the petitioners who had moved the high court.

An estimated 5,000 families of fishermen from Gopiakuda, Kaliapata, Taladanda, Duadia, Kabalpur, Hansina, Bariha Gandakipur, Fatehpur, Bishali, Paradipgada and Mangarajpur would be in peril following the project. It would impede uniform flow of water leading to reduction in fish catch. Moreover, fishermen communities have legal rights for fishing in the waterbody as the tehsildar had leased it out for fishing against annual premium payment.

Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), engaged in undertaking the oil refinery project near Paradip, has agreed to pay compensation to traditional inland fishermen who have been adversely affected by the project.

The aggrieved fishermen had earlier approached the Orissa High Court and drew its attention to the detrimental effects of a bridge, being constructed at the site, on the livelihood of thousands of fishermen living in and around Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district.

“The IOCL has taken note of likely loss of fish catch due to the bridge project. It has agreed that the Oil company officials would pay compensation to the tune of Rs 4.50 lakh towards affected inland fishermen communities”, said Narayan Chandra Jena, Collector Jagatsinghpur.

The compensation sum would be disbursed through the officials of district fisheries. Representatives of fishermen communities would have to submit the list of beneficiaries. After it’s crosschecked, the amount would be distributed to genuine fishermen, said officials.

Earlier the district administration, acting on Orissa High Court directions, had deliberated the issue with the IOCL, stakeholders and representatives of fishermen communities.

“The matter has been amicably settled. The genuine grievances of the affected fishermen were addressed and the IOCL is ready to compensate the fishermen”, said Vasudev Behera, Tenshildar Kujang Tehsil.

The proposed bridge over Patakana rivulet, a tributary of Mahanadi River, would plug the free flow of water and thereby it would drastically reduce the fish catch, according to fishermen of the region.

“ The bridge is an important component of the oil refinery project that is being undertaken by IOC. It should not be stopped. However, the high court had observed that the company should address to the likely loss of livelihood stakes of affected fishermen. The demands of fishermen were also justified”, said Pradhan,

Tehsildar, Kujang Tehsil.

“The fishermen communities had demanded ex-gratia from the company to compensate the likely loss in fish catch. I am happy to learn that the fisheremen will get some compensation regardless of the amount”, said Bibhu Prasad Tarai, Lok Sabha member, Jagatsinghpur.

“As desired by the Orissa High court, the administration had sent a report apprising the court of the amicable settlement”, said Jena, Collector, Jagatsinghpur.

“Though the construction work of the bridge at Abhayachandrapur is yet to begin, the IOCL has initiated tender bidding process for it. The Patakana rivulet over which thousands of traditional fishermen are dependent for bread and butter is already chocked with several artificial barriers. As many as six bridges have already come up over it. Thus one more bridge at strategic Abhayachandrapur would spell death knell for poor fishermen’s avocation”, said Pitambar Tarai, one of the petitioners who had moved the High Court.

An estimated 5,000 fishermen’ families from Gopiakuda, Kaliapata, Taladanda, Duadia, Kabalpur, Hansina, Bariha Gandakipur, Fatehpur, Bishali, Paradipgada and Mangarajpur would be in peril following the bridge project. It would impede the uniform water flow consequently leading to reduction of fish catch. Besides the fishermen communities have legal rights fir fishing in the said water-body as Tehsildar has leased it out for fishing to fishing against annual premium payment.