TEZPUR, Oct 25 � People here have expressed serious concern over the alleged destruction of the prehistoric Owguri hillock with the district administration handing it over to a multinational company for building a four star hotel.
It is to be stated here that the Owguri hillock is a major part of the beauty of historic Tezpur town. Near the hillock stands the Tezpur TB hospital which was established 48 years ago to treat tuberculosis patients within a natural environment.
However, it is a matter of regret that though beautiful hillocks like those of Agnigarh, Owguri, Dhenukhona, Bamuni Pahar, Narabali Pahar etc. play a vital role in the environmental aspect of Tezpur, yet the administration is allowing a Shillong-based company �Singla Associates� to construct a luxurious hotel in the Owguri hillock in the vested interest of a section of the district administration. It is noteworthy that after getting permission, the company has already cut about 10 bighas of land in the hillock with sophisticated equipment.
Valuable trees and greenery is getting lost leading the conscious section and the nature lovers here to move against the administration. The Tezpur Development Authority (TDA), Forest Department, Sonitpur (West) and the Land Advisory Board should also take part of the blame in this regard as they have remained a mute spectator to destruction of this historic heritage of Tezpur.
The local MLA, Brindaban Goswami who is also a member of the Land Advisory Board told this correspondent that a large part of the hillock came under the Forest department after the same was under the control of the Army for a long time. �Sometimes, the government can allot land kept in the name of a department without any permission or discussion with the Land Advisory Department,� Goswami said adding further that the matter was not known to him. �A four star hotel may have a positive fall out in the field of tourism, but it does not mean that environment of a naturally rich area should be destroyed. This can never be supported,� Goswami maintained.
