Amid protests eviction drive begins in Ichhabil tea garden

A CORRESPONDENT

SILCHAR: Thwarting resistance by locals, Patharkandi police and administration had started evicting the alleged encroachers from Ichhabil tea garden. On Saturday a posse of police armed with 20 excavators started demolition of allegedly illegal construction at Ichharpar and Tejpur mouzas under the tea estate in Katamani area nearly 68 kilometres from Karimganj town. Police used tear gas to disperse the mob which had started pelting stones.

Circle Officer Arpita Dutta Majumdar said, on Saturday altogether 90 houses and constructions had been demolished and the eviction drive would continue in all the five mouzas.

Ichhabil TE is among the one of the tea gardens under Assam Tea Corporation and the process of leasing out these government run gardens had already started. Rajdeep Goala, chairman of ATC told The Sentinel on Saturday that they had received complaints from local Panchayat members that at least 2,200 bighas of surplus ceiling land had been illegally grabbed by people coming from other areas. ATC had asked the Ichhabil TE management to start evicting them with the help of police and local administration.

Patharkandi MLA Krishnendu Paul told this correspondent that on the behest of ATC as well as local Panchayat, eviction against illegal encroachment had been initiated and it would continue.

Sources said, 75 per cent land belonging to five reserved forest in Patharkandi, area wise the second largest assembly constituency, had been illegally occupied by people mostly coming from neighbouring Tripura. Nearly 8,500 families of illegal intruders had also grabbed land of tea gardens causing demographic change in the garden areas.

Circle Officer Majumdar said, eviction notice was published in newspapers and recently the illegal dwellers were informed by loudspeakers to evict the land by themselves. As they did not act accordingly, administration started the eviction drive.

Meanwhile, State Congress working president and Karimganj MLA Kamalakha Dey Purkayastha on Friday wrote a letter to the Revenue Commissioner to stop eviction drive until the rehabilitation package was fixed.

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