Eviction Drive by Arunachal District Administration Starts

Arunachal Pradesh: The district administration here has launched an eviction drive against the structures that fall under 30 meters of the right of way (RoW) on Wednesday. The eviction drive is taking place amidst protests by commercial building owners along the National Highway (NH) 415.

In a press conference the Itanagar Commercial Buildings Affected Owners Welfare Association (ICBAOWA), on Wednesday, demanded that the eviction drive by the State Government should come to a halt with immediate effect.

The association further claimed that despite the high court having issued a stay order against eviction the district administration has launched the demolition that was to begin on Tuesday. It may be mentioned that the High Court has stayed against eviction order of 14 building owners, while the rest can be evicted. Association also demanded adequate compensation for all the affected structures before the demolition. The association claims that their structures were already demolished last year after due verification and assessment by the district administration through the chief estate officer.

Likha Tabin, legal advisor of the association, and a building owner said, “We were asked to demolish our own structures and assured adequate compensation would be paid. Accordingly, we did it, but during the disbursement of compensation we were again asked to produce no objection certificate,”

The association criticized that the district administration is taking undue advantage of the court vacation and alleged that it is defying the high court stay order.

However, the state government and the district administration maintained that the demolition of structures within 30 meters of the RoW is yet to be carried out in some places and no compensation would be paid against the structures falling within 30 meters of the RoW.

On the other hand, ICBAOWA member TC Tok claims that the district administration is illegally carrying out its eviction drive. “Of course we need roads, but there should be negotiation and dialogue with the affected people. How can the district administration carry out eviction without addressing our demands”, he said. He further said that there are lapses in the NH 415 road alignment and went on to claim that the centerline was altered and changed in many places. He demanded that the district administration and the state government should come clean with the records and data. He also condemned the intention of the All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) in raising the issue, following which the government had to call for one-go eviction drive. The Association later threatened to stir against the state government and the district administration.

AAPSU general secretary Tobom Dai while commenting on the eviction drive, said, “The union wholeheartedly welcomes the state government’s move and hope the state capital gets a national standard four-lane highway within the stipulated time”.He also appealed to all the citizens to cooperate with the ongoing eviction drive.

Meanwhile, the Capital Complex district administration has started with the demolition drive on Wednesday to ensure 15 mtrs RoW on both sides of the NH415 and also to verify that the compensated structure has been completely demolished.

The eviction drive was initiated as per the decision taken by the State Cabinet on 8 October.