Photo Courtesy: nenow
Guwahati: The Assam government pulled the plug on plans to seize Kiling Forest land for a satellite township. Officials confirmed the shift in a June 24 letter from the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority. The project now stays strictly within the former Nagaon Paper Mill site and nearby government lots. Plans to move people from five forest villages are dead.
Tribal groups and local residents fought the proposal for months. They feared losing their homes and ancestral land. Protesters gathered in Guwahati on June 11 to demand the government stop the land grab. A district survey meant to finalize relocation plans also faced a shutdown back in May.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma directed the change. The GMDA confirmed the forest villages of Sindhisar, Bihita, Naldhara, and others are safe. The formal notice stated, "It is clarified that the Kiling Forest area (Sindhisar, Bihita, Naldhara, Roumari etc.) is no more part of the proposed Industrial Township project."
Officials will stop all rehabilitation work for the area. The new industrial zone will now sit entirely on land held by the Assam Industrial Development Corporation and GMDA. This includes property tucked behind the Dalmia Cement factory near Junbeel.
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