Communist Party of India (CPI) stages sit-in, demands NEEPCO to pay Rs 400 crore

A CORRESPONDENT

LAKHIMPUR, July 16: The Lakhimpur district unit of the Communist Party of India (CPI) staged a two-hour sit-in on Monday in Lakhimpur in support of their demands. Staging the protest in front of the Lakhimpur DC office, the political party demanded immediate scrapping of the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 against which the party has expressed strong reaction since the time the Bill was moved in the Parliament. In addition to this, the party demanded the State government to mitigate the flood and erosion problem of Lakhimpur and to control price hike of essential commodities.

Further, the party demanded the State government to pressurize NEEPCO to pay Rs 400 crore as compensation in order to rehabilitate the flood-affected people who lost their properties in the devastating flood caused by the excess water released from the dam of Ranganadi Plant in 2017. Participating in the protest, Arup Kalita, the Lakhimpur district secretary of the party, came down heavily on the Union and State governments regarding the issues. Veteran CPI leaders of the district like AS Hazarika, Girin Upadhyaya, Achut Dutta Bhuban Gogoi, Karna Rai, Sarbajit Prasad and Subheswar Phukan were also present. The party submitted memoranda to the Union and State governments in support of their demands.