Raising a five-decade-old rehabilitation issue in the Lok Sabha, former Union Minister and Hamirpur MP Anurag Singh Thakur questioned why thousands of Pong Dam displaced families are still waiting for the land they were promised. He said that even after 50 years, justice remains incomplete for the affected people of Kangra district.
Speaking during Zero Hour, Thakur reminded the House that 20,772 families from 339 villages in Kangra were displaced following the construction of the Pong Dam (Maharana Pratap Sagar) on the Beas River. Under the 1970 Memorandum of Understanding and the Rajasthan Colonisation Rules, 1972, these families were to be rehabilitated in the Irrigated Command Area of Rajasthan. However, he said, the promise remains largely unfulfilled.
More than 6,700 families are still awaiting land allotment, while many others face shortages of essential infrastructure, encroachment issues and procedural hurdles. Thakur pointed out that despite several interventions — including a 1996 Supreme Court judgment and findings from a December 2024 inspection — a final solution has not been reached.
“Fifty years is a long time for families who were promised land and a new beginning,” Thakur said. “Rehabilitation is not a political slogan; it is a moral responsibility. What is the fault of these families who sacrificed everything for a national project?”
Calling for urgent intervention, Thakur demanded the formation of an inter-ministerial committee headed jointly by the Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Ministry of Home Affairs. He also sought a coordinated mechanism between the governments of Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh to ensure faster decision-making and timely rehabilitation.
He appealed to the Centre to strengthen the Central High-Power Committee for clearing pending cases, streamline budget allocation for essential infrastructure in the allotted areas and simplify processes related to domicile certificates and Kisan Credit Cards for the displaced people.
Thakur urged the government to honour the commitments made over five decades ago and ensure that the affected families finally receive the land, services and dignity they were promised.
