GUWAHATI, June 4 – Rampant illegal earth-cutting on the hills in and around the city has posed a serious threat to the environment besides proving to be a nuisance to the people living in those areas. Dhupolia hills, Jyotikuchi, on the outskirts of the city, is one such area subjected to persistent earth-cutting for years. So much so that little now remains of what used to be a green cover on this once-beautiful hill.
Narrating their tale of woe, residents of the locality today told newsmen that throughout the year, except during the rainy season, earth-cutting goes on unabated on the Dhupolia hills. “As a result of this, not only has the hill lost its sylvan touch but it has also rendered life miserable for the residents,” noted musician Kishore Giri, also a local dweller, said. Daily 25-30 trucks operate on the already dilapidated road with the result that the whole area is reeling under a severe dust and sound pollution, he added.
The residents said they have taken up the matter with the authorities concerned including the district administration, police and the Forest Department a number of times but without any avail so far. “The only time we got some respite was back in 1998 when the then City SP, Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta pursued the matter in the right earnest and stopped the menace,” Kishore Giri said. Since then everything was peaceful for about two years but the nuisance again raised its ugly head and there has been no stopping till this very day, he added.
Indicating the involvement of a powerful circle armed with money and muscle power in the unholy practice, the residents said most of the people were afraid to take on the might of the anti-socials and hence preferred to suffer in silence.