Protest against land acquisition for construction of airport in Dibrugarh

A CORRESPONDENT

DIBRUGARH: The All Assam Tea Tribes Students' Association (ATTSA) and Assam Tea Tribes Women's Association (ATTWA) on Wednesday staged a protest in front of the Deputy Commission's office in Dibrugarh over the government decision to acquire 2,500 bighas of land of Doloo tea estate in Cachar district for construction of Greenfield airport.

The activists holding banners and posters protested against the government decision of acquiring land. The process of clearing the tea plantation has already begun and more than a hundred excavators are being used to uproot the tea bushes. The tea garden workers have been strongly protesting the acquisition citing loss of livelihood.

ATTSA Dibrugarh district president Bimal Bagh said, "The government must immediately halt the land acquisition process. Already lakhs of tea bushes have been uprooted with bulldozers to clear the tea garden for constructing the Greenfield airport. We are not against development but the tea industry has been the backbone of Assam's economy. Through its act, the government has destroyed the livelihood of thousands of tea workers. We strongly oppose it."

"Assam is known worldwide for its tea but the government is hell bent on destroying the tea industry. Whether it is for building highways, railroads, airports or oil fields, it is the tea garden lands that have been evicted since ages. The government must realize that it cannot go on destroying tea garden land in the name of development," he said.

The agitators later sent a memorandum to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to stop the land acquisition process. "We urge the government to immediately stop the process. The tea land belongs to poor tea workers. Their livelihood associated with the tea garden will be hampered," Bagh said.

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