Purushottam Patra, Gariaband. Even after two decades, there is no mention of the mine in the revenue records of the tribals in whose land the diamonds were found in Payalikhand district. Not only this, those whose wealth worth trillions is buried in the land did not get even a single penny. The limit was reached when the diamond mine land of that tribal was wrongly transferred to the name of the village sarpanch.
In fact, in 1987, Alexander was found to be in the land of tribal Sahdev Gond in Senmuda of Devbhog tehsil, while in 1992, information about the presence of diamond in the field of Bhunjiya Barnu Netam, a resident of Payalikhand in Mainpur tehsil, came to light. The Mining Corporation of the undivided Madhya Pradesh government also exploited both the mines extensively in the name of prospecting. Today the shine of these gems has reached foreign countries but the owners of the land still live in kutcha houses. Generations were passing in the hope of compensation but the mine could not even be mentioned in the revenue records.
Due to the prospecting case being pending in the court, the heirs of the valuable land have not even been able to get compensation till date. Due to the discovery of diamonds in the ground, not only the profits were hanging in the balance but Barnu Bhunjia of Payilkhand had to lose the diamond bearing land. Barnu’s successor is his grandson Nayan Singh. Two years ago, when I went to make a new patta after getting the names of my grandfather and father removed from the land, there was a reduction of about two acres of land out of the total 12 acres.
The mine land is no longer in the name of Barnu’s heirs. Successor grandson Nayan Singh told that after the death of Dada Barnu, all his land was in the name of his father Jairam, uncle Kuwar Singh and Santosh, but now all three have passed away, so Nayan Singh became the head of his family’s 12 and a half acres of land. The names of other cousins are registered among the shareholders.
Nayan said that a year ago, when the lease was made by cutting the foti, there was suddenly a reduction of two acres of area in it. In the lease, Khasra was shown as 252/1 instead of 252. When there was doubt, after asking the experts, it was found that the area of 252 has been divided into two parts. There was a mention of the land in Dada Barnu’s name being given to Bahur Singh, the Sarpanch of the village, in distribution. The land included in the diamond bearing area of Khasra No. 252 became 252/2, which was registered in 2002 in the name of Bahur Singh, the Sarpanch of Jangra. After Bahur’s death in 2019, the land is registered in the name of Bahur Singh’s children.
Nayan Singh said that if the land containing the mine had been marked as a revenue record, the land that would have shaped his family’s future would still have been in his favour. Nayan said, Bahur Singh is not a part of his family, then how did his land get divided. It is alleged that people wrongfully took over the mine land from Dada by intoxicating him. Now the Bhunjia family is demanding justice.
In this matter, Joint Director of Mineral Department, Anurag Diwan said that after irregularities in prospecting,
the cases of both the mines are pending in the High Court. The mines are yet to be formally acquired, compensation and other assistance will be given as soon as the process is completed.
