In what highlights the challenges of relocating people to set up factories or mine mineral resources, hundreds of “ghost homes” or empty structures were allegedly constructed in Madhya Pradesh’s Singrauli district to claim compensation after a private firm bagged a mining project in the region. These homes are now under the lens of the district administration. A field visit by The Indian Express revealed that many of these “homes” have no doors or windows. In several cases, broken bricks and cow dung serve as the foundation. Some were hurriedly built for as little as Rs 10 lakh. At the same time, several residents said despite being legitimate homeowners, they had been wrongly accused of carrying out construction to claim compensation. The local pradhan, Devendra Pathak, said they have challenged the resettlement exercise before the High Court. “The company doesn’t want to give us fair compensation,” he said. The timeline 🔴 Essel Mining and Industries Limited (EMIL), an Aditya Birla Group company, emerged as the preferred bidder for the Bandha coal block in Singrauli on November 3, 2020. 🔴 The first population estimate, carried out after a notification on June 14, 2021, revealed that there are 550 families in the area demarcated for the coal block. 🔴 On May 12, 2022, the District Collector imposed Section 11, after which there was a freeze on new construction in the area. 🔴 On April 11, 2023, 4,784 structures were officially approved for resettlement, making them eligible for compensation. The residents were to be moved to make way for a Rs 2,300 crore greenfield commercial coal mining project. 🔴 On June 28, 2024, EMIL wrote to the Singrauli District Collector alleging discrepancies during a survey the company carried out. “During self-inspection for properties located in village Bandha… discrepancies were found… Some houses listed in the record were not found at the site, and surveys were conducted on incomplete under-construction houses where construction work was started after the publication of Section 11 with the intention of illegally obtaining non-standard land acquisition benefits,” it claimed. 🔴 On November 8, 2024, the Collector constituted a 20-member team to investigate the alleged irregularities in the construction of these homes. On the ground The Indian Express visited 200 of the 3,491 structures in Bandha that are now under the district administration’s scanner. Standing inside one such structure, owner Pramod Kumar, a farmer from Waidhan, said he spent Rs 10 lakh to build it. The home lacks doors, windows, furnishing or water supply, and came up around two years ago. “I made this home for my children in the hope that I would get some compensation. Nobody told me it was illegal,” Kumar said, echoing a common refrain of the authorities not being clear about what is and is not allowed. As a result, the town has entire complexes of empty homes, ranging from tiny one-room set structures to palatial six-room buildings with no wiring, plumbing, or flooring. Kamlesh Prasad (31), a local builder, claims to have built over 30 homes over the past two years. “A one-room set home with no doors and windows can be constructed for Rs 1 lakh within a week, a three-room home in Rs 5 lakh, and a one-acre large home with multiple rooms called ‘VIP homes’ take over Rs 15 lakh to be made which can take over a year to construct,” Prasad said. Amid the administration’s crackdown, many homeowners who say they are “genuine” are suffering. Lala Singh’s (32) ancestral home is one of the biggest in the locality, dating back over 60 years. Singh made a home for his aunt and one for himself at the roadside, next to his home. But both have been red-flagged as new constructions in the survey report. “We spent Rs 1 lakh to hire builders from Singrauli. This craze to build homes for compensation was set off by outsiders who made homes on 1-2 acres for around Rs 10 lakh. The locals sold their land to the outsiders and made some money; this was used as an investment to set up small homes… now everyone fears their investment has gone up in smoke,” he said. Vishwanath Gurjar (51), a farmer whose family has lived in Bandha village for three generations, clutched a land parcel map, showing his property located near some empty structures red-flagged by the survey. “My home was built in the 1970s. The wood used in the tiles to build my home is no longer available. I had some land which was sold to Singrauli-based residents around 10 years ago, and they made some unfinished homes. I sold them to finance the wedding of my three daughters. My home is also listed as new construction. Why should I pay for what outsiders do?” he said. Shyamlal Gurjar (30) claims some unknown persons have been shown as owners of his land as per the survey. “The whole survey is problematic. This is done so that others can collect compensation in my name,” he alleged. The challenge for authorities Bandha pradhan Devendra Pathak said the main issue for the villagers was fair compensation. “We challenged the procedure in which the administration has undertaken this resettlement exercise before the High Court. They have not followed the rules as per the new Act. We also challenged the company’s objections, which were made two years later. The company doesn’t want to give us fair compensation,” he said. Singrauli land acquisition officer in charge Rajesh Shukla explained why keeping a tab on ghost homes is an uphill task for the authorities. “It is unfortunate that people are making these homes despite knowing that they should stop. They come in small numbers and set up structures in a short time. If we try to even enter these villages, we are beset by groups which mount pressure on us. In the short time between different stages of land acquisition, so much illegal activity happens in this region. These are big challenges. This time we used drone surveys to circumvent his issue,” said Shukla. Singrauli Collector Chandrashekhar Shukla said, “The investigation will take time as many parties have approached the High Court against the order to investigate.” Akhilesh Singh, the Singrauli Sub-Divisional Magistrate, who is heading the 20-member investigation team, said the “team will investigate 3,491 homes”. “We are going to verify the exact number of homes qualifying for compensation,” he said. Asked why the irregularities were not caught early on, he said, “The company should have objected a long time ago. Whatever has happened, we are late.” When contacted, an EMIL executive said, “We have the right to raise objections at periodic intervals. The survey was carried out with the help of drones, government survey photos and our own field visits. We saw every four-five months a substantial growth of these homes, which is why we alerted the authorities.”
