Effort to reopen Wimco goes in vain, the Jatia Group of Companies sold it to ITC

DHUBRI : Siren of workers’ change of duty of West India Match Company (Wimco) in Dhubri had fallen silent in 1996 and finally closed down its production in the following year. Subsequently, the Jatia Group of Companies who had owned the company, sold it to ITC 2001. All these selling and transfer of land were done within couple of years after the closure of the company so secretly that people of Dhubri didn’t even get smell of it.

However, people had hoped that ITC, a giant industrial company of the country, would open some industries in 175 bighas of land, but over two decades of silence maintained by ITC, it recently sold 110 bighas of land out of 175 bighas in connivance with rulling party leaders and district high officials.

There are different parts of land of Wimco including industrial sheds, godowns, log chopping shed, workers quarter, officer quarter, timber logs section, bhusi (wood dust dumping ground), club house with tennis court, co-operative, canteen and plantation area.

When the few persons on behalf of buyer, Kamrup Ice and Cold Storage Company who allegedly purchased Wimco came to measure land, Wimco Bachao Committee comprising a section of people representing various organisations staged protest with a demand to reopen the industry in PPP model.

A member of Wimco Bachao Committee and a social worker, Simul Sarkar informed that in order to apprise people and mobilise public opinion, a meeting was called by the committee at Sankar-Azan Adarsa Bidyalay on Sunday wherein next agitational programme would be chalked out to stop the move to sell the land for real estate business.

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