HT Correspondent
NAGAON, Aug 13: Amidst the ongoing protests against the diversion of the proposed four-lane national highway from Kaliabor Tiniali towards Numaligarh by several local organisations, groups, and citizens of Kaliabor for weeks, the Kaliabor unit of the All Assam Tea Tribes Students’ Union staged a protest against the proposed diversion of the four-lane national highway through the Chickni Tea Estate at Kaliabor Tiniali on Tuesday.
It is reported that the National Highways Authority of India has taken steps to construct the road as an alternative to Jakhalabandha, from Kaliabor Tiniali via Dalgaon and Chickni Tea Estate to Numaligarh, and the survey for it has already begun. The demand to construct the road through Jakhalabandha has led to intense protests in Kaliabor for weeks. The organisations, as well as other groups of Kaliabor, demanded that the government clarify its stand by August 15, otherwise, they would initiate more intense movements in the days to come.
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Amidst such developments, the Kaliabor unit of the All Assam Tea Tribes Students’ Union, along with the Chickni unit of the Assam Tea Workers’ Union, the Chickni primary unit, and the workers, staged a protest program from Kaliabor Tiniali to the office of the sub divisional officer, Kaliabor.
During the stir, the protesters strongly opposed the construction of the four-lane national highway through the Chickni Tea Estate. The agitators shouted various slogans and blocked the road for a while. Over three hundred tea tribe students participated in the agitation.
The secretary of the All Assam Tea Tribes Students’ Union, the secretary of the Nagaon district unit of the Assam Tea Workers’ Union, and workers participated in the stir. Following the protest, a memorandum signed by the president and secretary of the Kaliabor unit of the All Assam Tea Tribes Students’ Union was submitted to the chief minister through the sub divisional officer, Kaliabor.
In the memorandum, the organisation stated that the construction of the four-lane national highway through the Chickni Tea Estate would lead to severe problems for the people working in the tea garden. Therefore, the All Assam Tea Tribes Students’ Union demanded that the proposed construction of the four-lane national highway through the Chickni Tea Estate be stopped at any cost.
The organisation also demanded that the future of the workers in the tea estate be ensured and urged the government to provide land pattas to the tea garden workers who have been living in the tea garden for generations, a press note asserted here.
