Assam: Relocate Greenfield Airport to Kharil TE, demands Labour union

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: In a press conference held at the Guwahati Press Club, the Labour Union for Social Harmony and the Citizens Forum on Thursday demanded the immediate relocation of the proposed Greenfield Airport at Doloo Tea Estate to the abandoned site of Kharil Tea Estate, citing environmental, legal, and human rights violations.

Prominent speakers at the meet included Mrinal Kanti Some, Debojit Choudhury, Pranab Doley, Subnat Talukdar, Kamaljit Teli, and Farooq Laskar, who jointly criticized the project’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process, calling it a “mockery” and a “gross violation of constitutional and judicial norms.”

The forum alleged that the EIA process was riddled with procedural irregularities. They claimed that the mandatory public hearing — a key component of the EIA — was scheduled during active working hours of the tea garden, effectively disenfranchising nearly 2,500 tea garden workers from participating. Additionally, they pointed out that the venue for the hearing was shifted to a distant location just days before the scheduled date, further obstructing local participation.

Speakers also highlighted several alarming developments surrounding the project, including:

• Mass uprooting of tea bushes in violation of plantation norms

• Unlawful acquisition of land within the Doloo estate

• Risk of displacement for hundreds of families who depend on the estate for their livelihood

• Environmental threats to Doloo Lake, Doloo River, and the nearby Barail Wildlife Sanctuary.

Among the key environmental concerns raised were the needs to:

• Preserve the ecology and biodiversity of the Doloo area

• Protect the Barail Wildlife Sanctuary from ecological degradation

• Comply with existing environmental and forest conservation laws

Calling the current project site “ecologically sensitive and socially disruptive,” the forum urged authorities to relocate the airport project to Kharil, an abandoned site they say presents a less invasive and more practical alternative.

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