A CORRESPONDENT
DHUBRI: NGOs and social activists recently submitted memoranda to Dhubri Deputy Commissioner, urging him to take action against encroachers of land in Mora Gadadhar basin and to evict roadside vendors near Paglababa Temple on Guru Teg Bahadur Road. Kalpataru, a socio-cultural organization of the district, expressed surprise over the ongoing construction works in the basin of Mora Gadadhar River flowing by Dhubri and Gauripur town.
Director of the organization, Suchibrata Singha Choudhury said that the Gadadhar River was immortalized by renowned writer Shilbhadra (Rebati Mohan Dutta Choudhury) in his writings, including Gadadharer pare pare (along the bank of River Gadadhar) and Goalpariya folk singer, Padma Shri Pratima Barua Pandey in a number of folk songs. "But it is very unfortunate and painful to see the land of this river being encroached and construction going on in a large area," Choudhury lamented.
Echoing similar concern, an ardent social worker of Dhubri town, Simul Sarkar also alleged that despite all these things going on under the very nose of the district administration and close to the headquarter ( Dhubri town), yet no step has been taken by the authority to inquire into the alleged encroachment of land.
"The social activists of the town and Kalpataru submitted memoranda to the Deputy Commissioner, Deba Kumar Kalita in April this year and he ordered an inquiry into land encroachment, but after his transfer in May, we also submitted fresh memos to the newly-posted Deputy Commissioner, Anbamathun MP few days ago. We hope that he will take necessary action against encroachers of river land and illegal roadside encroachers on the Guru Teg Bahadur Road near Paglababa Temple," Sarkar said.
In his first visit to Dhubri district as guardian minister, Ranjeet Kumar Dass ordered Dhubri DFO to evict the encroachers from nearly 300 hectares o reserve and proposed reserve forest area. Social activists hope that similar action will also be taken against the encroachers of Mora Gadadhar land, which is a very emotional and sentimental issue for the people of Dhubri district, Choudhury and Sarkar said.