MISSION BASUNDHARA 2.0: Ecological, not political factors led to omission of sar areas

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The exclusion of sar (sand bar) areas from the ambit of Mission Basundhara 2.0 has created a debate in the state, with the Opposition parties alleging 'politics of polarization' and the government rebutting the charge by citing ecological concerns as the reason for the omission.

When Chief Minister announced Mission Basundhara 2.0, he had specified that sar areas will not be included for time being. This has led the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) and the Congress to allege that the state government is trying to deprive a section of people from land pattas.

According to AIUDF's joint secretary Aminul Islam, they cannot see any logic behind the decision to keep the inhabitants of sar areas out of Mission Basundhara 2.0. He said there are many sand bars that have become stable over 15 to 20 years and they are not prone to erosion. He questioned the government's decision to deprive dwellers of such areas from land settlement.

In a similar vein, the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) says that this is a overt conspiracy to deprive a particular section of people of land rights. The APCC claims that many indigenous Muslims have been inhabiting such sar areas for years on end.

On the other hand, official sources termed these allegations as baseless on the ground that ecological imperatives must be taken into consideration before giving land pattas in areas located in the middle of the river Brahmaputra. The possible impact of permanent construction of houses etc., in the middle of the river will have to studied before grant of land pattas in sar areas, the sources said.

The sources further said that no survey has been carried out on the sar areas since 2003-2004. At that time, there were 2,251sar villages with a population of 2.5 million. They said that there was an increase of 7.7 per cent in sar villages between 1993 and 2003.

The sources said that a new survey of sar villages must be carried out, because of their shifting nature.

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