SILCHAR, June 19 � In a massive demolition drive, the NF Railway authorities here pulled down several houses within the Tarapur New Colony and evicted over 200 families in order to clear the passage for the construction of broad gauge tracks. The eviction drive, which began on Monday, continued till Wednesday. According to the Railway authorities, the families were already informed about the drive and every family was served a notice in this regard.
The evicted families had earlier contacted political leaders after they received the notices and sought their intervention, demanding their rehabilitation in the Lalmati area at Indragarh. They claimed that former MP Kabindra Purkayastha had promised to find out a solution to the matter and discussed the issue with ADC Baranya Das before the Lok Sabha polls. But nothing came out of this.
Subal Roy, a resident of the locality, maintained that after the receipt of the notices, they were preparing to vacate the space. �But the Railway authorities gave us no time to make necessary arrangements. Due to the abrupt action, many of us are now living under the open sky,� some evicted families alleged.
Meanwhile, the BJP is raising the issue of the rehabilitation of these families. The BJP�s State spokesperson, Dr Rajdeep Roy, who visited the eviction site, said that though the broad gauge project was necessary, the authorities should have taken humanitarian factors into consideration before applying force. He stated that the district administration had earlier assured him that eviction would be carried out only after the families were properly rehabilitated. For this, he had suggested that the administration should rope in some NGOs. But the assurance was forgotten as the administration went ahead to demolish all the houses in the particular locality, leaving many people homeless and helpless.
�We want the development of the Barak Valley, but not at the cost of putting poor people to trouble. I will take up the issue with the administration,� Roy added.
