By our Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, August 9: A lapse in an Act ected in 2008 is set to cost dearly for a Trust that was formed in the me of one of Assam’s icons – balladeer Bhupen Hazarika. The Bhupen Hazarika Trust is on the verge of losing the five-bigha land it was given settlement by the then AGP government in 2000. The Trust has been barred from starting any construction on the plot of land.
The matter came up on the floor of the State Assembly today when BJP MLA Padma Hazarika raised the issue during the Zero Hour. Hazarika said that the Trust had been given settlement on a five-bigha plot by the last AGP Government in 2000 against the payment of a premium of Rs 1.50 lakh. “However, the area was later included under wetland, and that led Dispur to bar the Trust from going ahead with any construction works on the plot. This is not all. Of late, the Revenue Department has sent a letter to the Trust asking it to pay more premia as the land is located in a first class business area. This is sheer double standard on the part of Dispur. In one hand, it says that since the area has been notified later as wetland the Trust can’t construct any structure there, and on the other, the Revenue Department seeks more premia due to the prime location of the plot. The Trust is now in troubled waters,” he said.
In his reply, Revenue Minister of State Pallab Lochan Das said: “Yes, the Trust was given settlement in 2000 under Beltola Mouza in village Hengrabari, Daag No. 602. But the Trust didn’t erect any structure there. In 2008, the Guwahati Development Department (GDD) introduced a Bill for the protection and preservation of wetlands in and around Guwahati, and the Bill got its passage. However, while preparing the Bill, the GDD included the five-bigha plot of the Bhupen Hazarika Trust also in the wetland map. Now if the Trust constructs any structure there, it will come in clash with the wetland protection Act. If the Trust wants settlement of land elsewhere in the city, they may take up the matter with the Chief Minister. If the Chief Minister gives his go-ahead sigl, we can see the matter.”
Padma Hazarika then stood again, and said: “Dr. Bhupen Hazarika is the pride of Assam, and as such this case deserves special attention. Instead of the Trust taking up the matter with the Chief Minister, why not Dispur comes out on its own with a solution? Dispur should come out with a tangible solution to give land settlement to the Trust. In fact, the GDD shouldn’t have included the plot of the trust in the wetland map since the settlement had been given way back in 2000, and the Act was ected in 2008.”
At last, the Revenue Minister of State told the House that he would take up the case with the Chief Minister.