Development continues to elude Chengamari Morotpur Kaibartta village in Lakhimpur

A CORRESPONDENT

LAKHIMPUR: "The aspiring schemes adopted and implemented by the governments cannot touch us. We have been deprived of land rights since the days of our forefathers. We have been living here for decades being deprived of almost all facilities that the people of the modern society can enjoy in their day to day life," stated the people living at Chengamari Morotpur Kaibartta vilage in front of the headquarter journalists of Lakhimpur in an emotional environment.

This real picture of this village and of the people of the same came to light when the headquarter journalists of Lakhimpur, who are the members of North Lakhimpur Press Club (NLPC), arrived at the village by initiating its regular programme, titled as 'Gaonloi Jao Bolok' (Let's Go to Village). NLPC initiated the programme at the village on Friday in association with the Lakhimpur district committee of Asom Anusuchita Jati Yuba Chatra Sangstha (AAJYCS) for the first time after COVID-19 pandemic in order to take stock of the situation of the village.

Notably, Chengamari Morotpur Kaibartta vilage is located at a place under Lohit Khabalu Gaon Panchayat of Telahi Development Block, where River Ranganadi merges in River Subansiri. The village is almost 30 km away from North Lakhimpur town, the headquarter of Lakhimpur district. During the visit to the village, the people explained about their miserable condition with tears in their eyes. More than 400 people live in the village on an old, abandoned embankment of the River Ranganadi which was allegedly constructed prior to 1969. At present, Lakhimpur district administration and Divisional Forest Office of Lakhimpur, claiming that area to be a forest land, have issued notice to all the families of the village to desert the place or to face eviction. These notices have added an insult to their injuries. Under such circumstances, the people of the villages demanded Lakhimpur district administration and Government of Assam to withdraw the decision taken to evict them.

Referring to the eviction notice, Ajit Das and Bijit Das, two youths of the village along with others, stated that the villagers had been applying for land right since 1969.

"An eviction drive was conducted in the village in 2001, but the victims were not rehabilitated by the government anywhere of the district after the eviction. After some days, the evicted families came back to the village getting no shelter anywhere. The district administration initiated move once again to evict us in 2017. This time we challenged this move of the district administration in the High Court. The High Court issued verdict in favour of us with a warning that the government could not evict the people of the village without initiating rehabilitation process for them. After the verdict till date, we have not been rehabilitated, no land was allotted to us, but eviction notices have once again been issued to us," Ajit Das further alleged while expressing resentment over the issue. He further expressed resentment while saying that the Forest Dwellers Act, 2006 had not covered the Scheduled Caste community people, despite being the sons of the soil.

The floods caused by River Subansiri and River Ranganadi affect these people of the village every year. There is not any accessible road communication to this village. The academic infrastructure of the village is very poor. There is only a primary school in the village. The school was provincialized in 1982. The school remains closed for six to eight months every year because of the flood situation. There are only six matriculates and two graduates in the village, but there is no government service holder. The people of the village earn their bread by selling fish or as wage earners. They have been deprived of medical and health facilities too.

While accompanying the journalists, AJYCS central committee president Nripen Das declared that the organization would carry on intensified agitation for the rehabilitation of the villagers concerned. He demanded the Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Lakhimpur MLA Manab Deka to visit the village to take stock of the situation there. He also demanded the governments at the Centre and in the State to initiate moves to amend the Forest Dwellers Act, 2006 to cover the Scheduled Caste community people for their rehabilitation.

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