In Odisha's Lanjiberna, the protest against "illegal" expansion by corporate giant Dalmia Cement Bharat Limited (DCBL) has gotten intense, with locals starting a sit-in protest.
On 25 February, four platoons of Odisha Police, allegedly along with company goons, entered Lanjiberna with JCBs and started digging the already destroyed farms, even as the locals staged protests.
Maktoob was on the ground and had spoken to people about the mining projects and the "illegal" expansion that people said is taking place without their consent.
Since March, the dissent has intensified, with police officials clashing with villagers. On March 28, the people of Lanjiberna broke the barricades as reports emerged of Dalmia reviving the digging of agricultural land.
Speaking to Maktoob, Mary Kullu, who lost 3 acres of land, said that ever since the JCB came and ruined their farmland, no one has been able to sleep.
"We have been wondering what we could have done to save our land," she added.
Kullu has been sitting in protest in scorching heat ever since her land was razed.
In a letter to the President, Droupadi Murmu, the Fifth Schedule Union - an amalgamation of all Fifth Schedule villages fighting against mining, expansion, compensation, rehabilitation, and other issues in Sundargarh and other regions of Odisha - demanded answers and support from the government.
"We are the original inhabitants of Village Lanjiberna, Mauza Lanjiberna, Police Station Rajgangpur, Block Kutra, District Sundargarh, Odisha, India. Despite our sustained peaceful protests, the prolonged inaction of the President's Office has created an administrative vacuum, allowing OCL/DCBL to quietly advance mining operations in direct contravention of our fundamental rights," they wrote.
The stand-off between the people of Lanjiberna and Dalmia Cement (formerly OCL India Ltd) has been a long-standing issue. The community, which consists of the Oraon, Kisan, and Kharia tribes, has been protesting against the expansion and mining in the region.
The Fifth Schedule Union has claimed that the issue has been ongoing since 2017, as Dalmia persisted in their "coercive" and "predatory" activities in "blatant defiance of tribal sovereignty."
"Consequently, under the mandate of Constitutional Law-and in direct response to the unlawful extraction of mineral resources since 2017 and the unconstitutional complicity of the Sundargarh District Administration-we hereby decree the permanent closure of the Lanjiberna DCBL Limestone Mine," the letter read.
Speaking to Maktoob, Hazari Kurkatta, a resident of Lanjiberna, shared his anger, saying the people have been pushed into a corner. "Barring the fact that nor Dalmia nor the government has any right over our land, we have been pushed so much, and this illegal digging of our farmland is that," he added.
Since the JCB started digging the area on 25 February, regular peaceful protests have been taking place. However, the people of Lanjiberna collectively decided that the sit-in protest will continue until the Dalmia company "does not stop mining."
"Consequently, we are now compelled to re-establish our physical peaceful presence within the extension area by putting up the tent - not merely as an act of protest, but as a formal repossession of our land to ensure no further expansion operation take place, in exercise of the power mandated under Existing Law," the letter to the President read.
In 2017, for the expansion of the DCBL Limestone Mine in Lanjiberna, approximately 280 acres of tribal land was forcibly acquired.
"This acquisition is being done through coercion, without the consent of the individual patta-holders (title deeds), without the permission of the village, and without the clearance of the five Gram Panchayats. This was done surreptitiously, transferring patta land to the name of DCBL through digital documentation. When documents regarding this transfer are requested, neither the President, the Governor, nor the Tehsildar can produce them," the Fifth Schedule Union pointed out in their letter.
Kurkatta emphasised that the protest will be peaceful despite "violent conduct by the forces."