Guwahati: Six tribal organizations will block National Highway-27 on October 5. They are fighting a high-voltage power line route cutting through Sonapur. Four years of talks failed. The groups claim the Assam Electricity Grid Corporation Ltd project ruins their farm plots and ancestral land.
Leaders from the Amri Karbi National Council, the Amri Karbi Students Union, and four other groups gathered at Phong-Ari to announce the protest. They have submitted memorandums since 2022. They want the line moved to save tribal soil. Hundreds marched from Digaru Bali Gate to the Dimoria Co-District Commissioner office on September 14 to demand action. Officials promised a review. The machines kept digging anyway.
Amri Karbi National Council president Upen Engti spoke out against the delay. "We have been moving from one office to another since 2022 and have submitted repeated memorandums. We were assured that the alignment would be changed, but the work is continuing on the same route. If the situation leads to any law-and-order problem, the government will be responsible," he said. Amri Karbi Students Union leader Mahendra Terang noted they support power upgrades but refuse to sacrifice their land rights. "We are not against the power line. Our demand is only that it be realigned so that the land rights of the community are protected. No amount of compensation can make us accept an alignment that destroys the little pattaland our people possess," he added.
The project, which includes a 400/220/132/33-kV Sonapur GIS, cuts through 13 villages including Nartap. Tribal families in the region rely on this agriculture for survival. Activists claim the government favors big industry over local farmers. They demand a new route before October 5.
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