Guwahati: Several tribal bodies in Assam, backed by leaders of opposition parties, protested at Chachal in Guwahati on Wednesday against speculated plans to develop satellite townships in Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council and Tiwa Autonomous Council areas in Kamrup and Morigaon districts.The protesters also demanded scrapping of the proposed 55 MW Ukiam Hydropower Project at Ukiam on the Kulsi river along the Assam-Meghalaya interstate boundary in Kamrup district. In July last year, the Assam border protection and development department said in a statement that “no final decision” had been taken by the Assam government regarding implementation of the project.Subrata Talukdar, convener of Bhumi Adhikar Joutha Sangram Samiti, said in a memorandum that indigenous tribal communities were facing “a grave land crisis and existential threat.” Congress leader Debabrata Saikia and Assam Jatiya Parishad president Lurinjyoti Gogoi participated in the protest.In the memorandum, the protesters alleged the govt was moving ahead with plans to build a “Satellite Township” in the villages of Sindhisar, Naldhara, Roumari, Palashbari, and Bihita under the Tiwa Autonomous Council, putting around 1,500 farming and working-class families at risk of displacement. “Although strong public opposition has currently halted the survey work in the Amlighat-Sindhisar area, the govt has still not issued any formal or written assurance that the project has been canceled, they rued in the memorandum.In the Borduar area under the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council in Kamrup, the protesters alleged the land identified for “a township” has been inhabited by tribal communities since before the British leased it for a tea garden. “Around 2,100 families, who have lived for generations through cultivation and dependence on nature, are now spending their days under the threat of eviction,” they said.The protesters said that despite verbal assurances from govt representatives that no township would be built, a request for proposal (RFP) invited by Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority for “consultency services for the Preparation of Development Plan for Growth Centre at Palasbari, Guwahati” had fuelled fear and suspicion.“In addition, the proposed Ukiam Multipurpose Dam Project threatens the lives of the Garo, Khasi, and Rabha tribal communities living in about 20 to 25 villages along the Assam-Meghalaya border. If this dam is built, it is feared that not only will many indigenous villages be exposed to floods and erosion, but the entire South Kamrup region surrounding the historic Chandubi Lake will also face a severe environmental crisis,” the memorandum said.The memorandum was signed by leaders of All Tiwa Students’ Union, Bhumi Adhikar Joutha Sangram Samiti, Nikhil Rabha Jatiya Parishad and Borduar Bagan Bhumi Pattan Dabi Samiti.
