GUWAHATI: Protests over the Chandrapur dumping ground in Assam continued for the 28th day on Friday, July 23, with the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) jumping in to extend its support to the cause.
Earlier on Thursday, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Debabrata Saikia expressed concern about what he described as the manner in which the Assam government imposed its will by going ahead with relocating the dumping ground to Chandrapur despite strong protests by local residents.
Saikia said that initially the area was supposed to be a waste to energy development project but no such project is visible at the moment while garbage continues to be dumped in the area in a haphazard manner. Saikia said that he will take up the matter in the Assam Assembly.
“As a conscious citizen and a Lok Sabha candidate of Guwahati where Dispur falls under Guwahati LS constituency I feel that Chandrapur has been neglected for a long time in various matters of development. Chandrapur, being a biodiversity area with the mighty Brahmaputra flowing by, and lush green hills and forests surrounding the area can be developed into a tourist destination, instead, the State government is turning it to a dumping ground,” he said.
Participating in the peaceful protests at Chandrapur with local residents and members of the Dumping Ground Birodhi Akya Mancha, members of the APCC said, “We visited the dumping site and were shocked to see that the garbage has been disposed of without following any norms. It's just been dumped on the hillside. There is no land or area demarcation; there is no segregation at the source. All the materials have been dumped together and laid to rot which will further create pollution. Under such circumstances why will people not protest?”
The Opposition also added that it was very unfortunate that the protest was lathi-charged at, rather than the Assam Chief Minister visiting them to understand their concerns.
Meanwhile, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed by one Pradip Baruah, a permanent resident of the Chandrapur Village at the Gauhati High Court (HC). The PIL contested the Guwahati Municipal Corporation’s (GMC) shifting of the dumping ground to Chandrapur, another highly sensitive ecologically protected place, which is identical if not similar to the earlier dumping site at Boragaon.
A bench comprising of Chief Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Manash Ranjan Pathak halted all operations of GMC at the site till the hearing of the PIL on August 4. Advocate General to the Government of Assam, Debojit Lon Saikia sought two weeks time to obtain necessary instructions in the matter, which was granted by the Court.
However, a protestor speaking to G Plus said, “The one who filed the PIL is not a participant in the ongoing protest. Without any consultation with us, the PIL was filed and the Court has halted the activities of the GMC here. Now we are not sure whether this sudden development will benefit us or add to our woes.”