Bogibeel Project: Indigenous farmers' distress signal to the government

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The Area Development and Service Road Land Compensation Demand Committee, Bogibeel Project, North Bank met Revenue and Disaster Management (R&DM) Minister Jogen Mohan today and described the plight of 160 gullible indigenous Mising farmers who have not got compensation or financial package against the lands they had to lose for the Bogibeel project. It is a case of sheer ignorance on the part of the farmers of the Jonai LAC in the Dhemaji district.

During 2003-04, the railway authorities took 230 bighas of land from 160 indigenous farmers for the service road of the bogibeel project. The gullible farmers had been affected by the earthquake in 1950. Since then, they started cultivation on the lands under 'bhogdakhal satva' (possession rights) at different times, some from 1950, some from 1955, some from 1960 etc. Due to sheer ignorance, the farmers did not feel the necessity of land pattas for the lands under their possession. They even did not smack of any problem cropping up in getting compensation for not having pattas while giving the land for the Bogibeel project.

However, when the issue of compensation came, the question of land pattas cropped up. Now the 160 gullible indigenous farmers are on the verge of being deprived of land compensation.

The farmers requested the government several times to pay them land compensation or a financial package on the humanitarian ground against the land they gave for the project.

A delegation of the Area Development and Service Road Land Compensation Demand Committee, Bogibeel Project, and North Bank made the R&DM Minister known the plight of the indigenous farmers and why they are not getting land compensation or financial package.

Talking to The Sentinel, committee president Bilaram Pegu said, "The 160 indigenous farmers were ignorant of the importance of land pattas. Many indigenous people in the Dhemaji district do not have pattas of the lands under their possession for generations. Now 160 farmers are not getting compensation or financial package due to ignorance. We requested the Minister concerned to take this case as a special one on humanitarian grounds and pay the poor farmers either compensation or a financial package against the land they gave for the project."

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