Displacement disproportionately affects indigenous communities, with state claims of “public purpose” failing to provide adequate and unconditional resettlement. This leaves affected groups vulnerable, resulting in loss of livelihoods, cultural dislocation, and inadequate access to services, mainly impacting tribals due to insufficient compensation. The lack of enforceable legal guarantees turns rehabilitation into an act of state benevolence instead of an obligation, undermining social justice. A paradigm shift in development planning is called for to incorporate rights-based approaches. 

Improving irrigation infrastructure in India is essential for addressing drought and ensuring food security, especially given the reliance on variable monsoon rainfall. Odisha’s government-initiated  Upper Indravati Multipurpose Project (UIMP), started in 1978, aimed to develop drought-prone areas through dam construction, irrigation, and hydroelectric power generation, targeting 600 megawatts of power and irrigating around 1,09,000 hectares (ha). The project also addresses socio-demographic challenges, signi­ficantly impacting Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), necessitating the relocation of the thousands of inhabitants from 97 villages due to land inundation in Koraput, Kalahandi, and Nowrangpur districts. Several dams, such as the Indravati dam, have been built on the river to utilise its hydropower potential, significantly meeting the energy demands of both urban and rural areas.

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