GUWAHATI, Jan 21 ? The Takam Mising Porin Kebang (TMPK) and the Area Development Demand Committee (ADDC) of the Sissi revenue circle, have alleged that hundreds of families, who will lose more than 1000 bighas of cultivable land, are going to be deprived of minimum compensation against land acquisition for the Rs 1,700 crore Bogibeel bridge project. The two bodies have demanded that works for the construction of the bridge across the Brahmaputra should be stopped immediately until a settlement of land acquisition and payment of compensation is amicably reached at.
A dharna was staged at the camp office of the Raitani Engineering Works Pvt Ltd today which is building a service road to the proposed fourth bridge across the Brahmaputra. Representatives of the TMPK?s Silapathar district committee and the ADDC told newspersons here this morning that the Bogibeel project is turning out to be a curse for hundreds of poor peasants due to the State Government?s apathy and wrong policies. They said that the project requires 981 bighas, two kathas and 11 lessas of land on the north bank in the Sissi Borgaon Revenue Circle of Dhemaji district. This land falls in 17 villages, ten of which are inhabited by the tribals. They said that land survey and settlement has not been completed in the circle, particularly in the tribal areas, despite repeated petitions. As a result, many people do not have any land patta in the area.
The TMPK and ADDC said that 677 bigahs, three kathas and seven lessas of land, out of the total to be acquisitioned, have not yet been settled and there are several petitions pending in the circle office. They said that the Indian Railways has already handed over Rs 8 crore to be paid as compensation to the peasants but the district administration has announced that compensation will be given only to those holding land patta. If such a decision is executed, hundreds of families would be evicted without compensation for no fault of their own, the representatives said. While demanding a halt to the ongoing works, the two bodies have demanded that patta should be given to all peasants having or possessing land at the site of the bridge within a stipulated time. Land value should be determined equally for all villages, they demanded.
The TMPK, which stands for All Mising Students? Union, and the ADDC have also pointed out that the Government is preparing to pay compensation only against land acquired for the Railways while depriving those evicted for road construction. Steps should be taken to compensate them too, they demanded. They have, additionally, demanded preference to the affected people in appointments to Government jobs and alternative cultivable land for rehabilitation. TMPK central committee representative Johan Doley said that while the two bodies welcome the bridge project, they are not happy with the response of the State Government which has ignored their petitions. He warned that legal action could also be resorted to if necessary. Though the land acquisition work has been going on for a couple of years now, not a single person has been given compensation, he said.