Kandhamal sectarian violence

What is affected
Housing private
Type of violation Forced eviction
Demolition/destruction
Date 01 January 2008
Region A [ Asia ]
Country India
Location Kandhamal, Odisha

Affected persons

Total 30000
Men 0
Women 0
Children 0
Proposed solution
Details

Development



Forced eviction
Costs
Demolition/destruction

Duty holder(s) /responsible party(ies)

State
Private party
Brief narrative

Kandhamal Sectarian Violence:

DP continued to present the second case of sectarian violence that led to mass displacement at Kandhamal, Odisha. In 2007 and 2008, local residents there carried out targeted attacks against the adivasi (tribal) and Dalit (Scheduled Caste) Christian community. About 30,000 people lost their homes, land, livelihoods, and are still suffering from severe impacts.

Local people insist that 100 of their people were killed in the incident. The government acknowledged only 38 dead. 4,500 received government recognition as displacement victims.

The object of this investigation was not to give a comprehensive view of the losses and damages across the whole district. The participants were some families from affected villages, but not truly representative of the whole. They were 122 families scattered in small clusters in three villages and selected at random. The questionnaire took two hours to fill.

Findings:

Government offered compensation for homes damaged: Full damage = Rs. 50K ($1K) from State of Odisha, Rs. 20K ($4K) from central government; partial damage = Rs. 20K ($4K) from state govt.) + Rs. 10K ($200) from central goverment. The local government enumerator decided on the level of damage/compensation. The basis for determining these amounts was arbitrary.

By contrast, most HHs had spent Rs. 200–250K (US$ 4–5,000) in constructing and furnishing their homes. Of the 122 families, the highest value lost = Rs. 1,800,000 (US$36,000). These values are likely much higher to replace at current prices. One family lost Rs.20K (US$4K), without counting their house structure.

No government or NGO party compensated any other property/possessions. The state government says it is impossible to assess actual losses. In fact, however, no policy exists for mitigating the consequences of such a disaster. The enumeration exercise of this project challenged government neglect.

Costs €   0


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