GUWAHATI, Feb 4 ? Delay in allotment of land, insufficient supply of boulders to construct the guide bund along the approach road on both north and south banks of Brahmaputra coupled with local resistance movements are causing delay in implementation of rail-cum-road bridge project at Bogibeel in Upper Assam. Talking to this newspaper, Sri VK Madhukar, Chief Engineer (Construction), of the NF Railway which is implementing the project, said that the Railway is desperately looking forward to take stone quarries on lease to maintain constant supply of boulders for construction of the approach road to the bridge from the southern bank.
The requirement of boulders for the guide bund along the approach road on the northern bank is being met from river sources particularly from Arunachal Pradesh. However, supply in this bank has been disrupted of late because of resistance put up by local tribal people organsied by Takam Missing Porin Keban (TMPK) demanding compensation for land procured from ?the locals? for the approach road. The Chief Engineer informed that the district authority in Dhemaji has been maintaining that the land allotted for construction of the approach road to the bridge site belonged to Government. As the land was lying vacant, the local tribal people were using it. However, the TMPK is flexing its arms demanding adequate compensation for the land which it claims to belong to tribals for generations.
As the TMPK volunteers are out to disrupt construction of the approach road, the project work is getting affected. The contractors engaged by the Railway to carry boulders are being served notice by the TMPK to stop work making the former reluctant to continue with the job. In case the dispute over the grant of compensation for land allotted to the Railway is not resolved soon, the Bogibeel project is bound to run far behind the schedule.
Although land acquisition has been comparatively a smooth sailing for the Railway for construction of approach roads on the southern bank, the construction has been affected by short-supply of boulders for the guide bud along the approach road. On the southern bank there will be two approach roads, one from Dibrugarh and another from Moranhat. For the approach road from Dibrugarh, the Railway has been allotted land and it has already paid Rs 22.92 crore to the Deputy Commissioner Dibrugarh as compensation to be distributed among land owners. For the Moranhat link, joint survey has been completed and the land estimate is being prepared by the district authority.
Meanwhile in order to augment supply of boulders on southern bank, the Railway has been in touch with the State Forest Department with a proposal to take on lease a stone quarry at Behora in Golaghat district. As the quarry had been leased out to a ?mahaldar? till June this year with permission to extract 3000 cubic meters of rock mass, the Railway suggested the Forest Department to terminate the lease to the present mahaldar and offered to pay adequate compensation of the same. Sri Madhukar informed that, ?the mahaldar has agreed for termination of his mahal right in lieu of payment of Rs 5.37 lakh has compensation. The Railway is willing to pay the money to secure complete lease of the quarry.?
Here the matter has got struck. The Forest Department wants the Railway to pay the compensation directly to the mahaldar while the Railway is insisting on making the payment through the Forest Department as per the rules. Already several rounds of meetings have taken place between the Railway officials and Forest Officials. Still, the matter has remained unresolved.
The Railway estimates to extract about 2.1 lakh cubic metre of rock from Behora quarry within two years. It also hopes to take on lease the part of the quarry falls within neighbouring Karbi Anglong district. However, the District Council authority in Karbi Anglong has made it clear that it will lease out the part of quarry only when the State Forest Department lease out the other portion falling within Golaghat district. The Railway will require total 6.5 lakh cubic metre of rock for construction of guide bund along the approach roads on southern bank while the requirement in the northern bank is 9 lakh cubic metre.