DHEMAJI, Nov 16 - Responding to a notice served by the Northeast Frontier Railway to the residents of No. 3 Murkongselek village under Jonai revenue circle in Dhemaji district, the local villagers have clarified that they are in fact dwelling on revenue land having genuine settlement documents.
It may be recalled that the Estate Officer of NF Railway, Rangia Division issued an eviction notice to a total 930 families, including villagers of No. 3 Murkongselek village near Murkongselek Railway Station at Jonai.
The notice said the local villagers were occupying railway land without any proper authority, thereby creating hurdles in implementation of railway development projects.
The Estate Officer also called upon the land occupants to appear in the office of the Divisional Railway Manager (W), Rangia for replying to their queries regarding occupation of railway land.
In the meantime, the residents of No. 3 Murkongselek village in a representation submitted recently to the Estate Officer of NF Railway clarified that they were dwelling on revenue land having genuine settlement documents from the State government�s Land Revenue Department.
Most of the families in the village have periodic land pattas granted by the state�s Land Revenue Department after proper survey.
Meanwhile, the local villagers have constituted a committee in the name of �Revenue Land Security Committee� to deal with the issue. They also submitted a petition to the Dhemaji Deputy Commissioner requesting him to look into the matter with urgency and liaison with NF Railway over the boundary demarcation of railway and revenue land in Jonai.
�We have furnished more than 90 land pattas along with revenue payment receipts to the NF Railway Estate Officer. We also submitted our claim that our village is settled on revenue land and it does not fall in railway land�, informed Dinanath Upadhyay, president of the Revenue Land Security Committee.
According to a report, the local villagers had in 2014 moved the Dhemaji district administration over demarcation of railway and revenue land boundary. But the administration had left the process incomplete, thereby causing the land dispute at the moment.
Presently, several hundred tribal families have settled in No. 3 Murkongselek and adjoining villages, while many permanent structures, including a college with a number of schools, besides mandirs, cultural centres and community halls have been set up in the village with state and central government funds.
