Assam: Doloo Tea Estate observe ‘black day’

Silchar: Amid thick uncertainty, the labourers of Doloo Tea Estate observed on Sunday the second anniversary of the forceful acquisition of land of the garden for a proposed greenfield airport. Almost 41 lakh tea bushes were uprooted as the administration used nearly 150 bulldozers to clear the site. That was early morning of May 12, 2022. The helpless women labourers cried, touched the feet of the well geared police force, but the wail fell on deaf ear. Two years later, the fate of the highly controversial project hangs in utter uncertainty as the Supreme Court had directed the State government to maintain status quo at Doloo site till the most essential Environmental Impact Assessment Survey report was duly submitted.

In this backdrop, the labourers gathered at the ‘naach ghar’ or the assembly shade of the garden on Sunday evening. They mourned for the tea bushes which were forcefully destroyed by the state machinery. Yet amid the sorrowful environment, there was a sigh of relief and more poignantly a sign of jubilation following the Apex Court stance which they termed a justice for their cause. Hence the assembly, organized by Assam Majuri Sramik Union who steered the fight to the Supreme Court, culminated in music and dance and a solemn hoisting of a black flag as a token of their collective losses. More than 2,000 people participated in a march to express their solidarity for the cause. There was a symbolic sowing of tea plants to usher in a ray of hope for a new beginning. Anjali Tantubai, a lady cried at the feet of the policemen two years back, said, their cause had been vindicated and now they want fresh plantation so their jobs can be secured.

After the Supreme Court directive last month, no official statement from the government was available till now. However local BJP leaders argued that the Apex Court had not at all quashed the project for a new airport and had only asked for the Environmental Impact Assessment Survey report, which the government would definitely submit in due time. It is to be noted that thc state government had already pumped Rs 80 crore for purchasing the land of the garden as well as paying Rs 1 lakh to the labourers as a goodwill gesture. Further new quarters for the labourers were being built in the one side of Doloo.

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