GUWAHATI: The Cotton University management has written to the Kamrup Metropolitan District Administration seeking immediate eviction of encroachers on its land.
It needs to be mentioned that several government and private plots in and around Guwahati have been encroached and turned into slums in the past few years. Amongst the said encroached lands is a plot of land that belongs to the varsity, located at Rupnagar in the Ulubari area of Guwahati.
A portion of the land is used for staff quarters, and a building is also under construction for additional quarters. However, a portion of the land in the northern boundary is encroached and causing hindrance to the construction of the boundary wall.
Reportedly, the erstwhile Cotton College has 14 bighas of land in the Rupnagar area, a substantial amount of which has been encroached.
Registrar of Cotton University Prof DK Das stated that despite numerous appeals to the Circle Office, no visible action has been undertaken by the authorities to demarcate the land or evict the encroachers.
As told by a senior university official to G Plus, the encroachers are mostly retired grade IV employees of the Assam State Transport Corporation. "The adjacent land belongs to the ASTC and many of the lowest income employees have chosen to settle here after retirement. Now it has turned into a dense locality with concrete structures," the official added.
Copies of a memorandum have been forwarded by the Students Union to the Cotton University Employees' Union, Teachers' Union and the Alumni Association for support.