Relocation of Laika-Dodhia forest villagers hit roadblock

OUR CORRESPONDENT

TINSUKIA: The State Government's initiative to relocate and rehabilitate Laika-Dodhia forest villagers is likely to be jeopardized after agitating members of Takam Mising Porin Kebang (TMPK), MMK and TMMK- all frontline organizations of the Mising community, out rightly rejected the government's proposal to settle the families at Namphai and Paharpur under Digboi Forest Division and Adakhana under Lakhimpur Forest Division and set January 15 as deadline to clear government's agenda on rehabilitation issue.

In a press meet at Lezaiholla makeshift camp at Borguri on the outskirts of Tinsukia on Monday, Ajoy Doley, assistant secretary, and Minturaaj Morang, vice-president of TMPK, flanked by other leaders and gaon burahs, stated that they had visited the proposed areas in both Digboi Forest Division and Lakhimpur Forest Divisions and found them to be unsuitable for relocation as the area was not free from encroachment by other ethnic communities, small tea growers and agricultural farmers. Even if they were re-settled there it might lead to fratricidal war and they had no intention to engage in confrontation with any communities, they asserted. They reiterated that they would not accept any area other than Ouguri with 470 ha under Digboi Forest Division which was earlier proposed by the forest department to rehabilitate 572 and 908 families of Laika and Dodhia respectively. Though a high-powered committee was set up at the initiative of the Chief Minister to examine the process of rehabilitation, no committee member has so far visited the camp and shared the feelings with the camp inmates, they expressed with resentment.

Voicing their anguish, the leaders informed the media that if the government failed to formulate an acceptable solution they would resort to aggressive agitation from January 20 and warned that the government would be solely responsible for any unpleasant situation in future.

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