GUWAHATI: The Assam government recently inked an MoU with the Tata Group for building a Rs 120-crore five-star hotel in Hathikuli tea garden in Kaziranga area. The Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, said there has been a record increase in footfall in Kaziranga after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's overnight stay at the world heritage site earlier this year. Though the state government is planning for two five star hotels in Kaziranga, the area is witnessing protests against the move and according to the Adivasi groups, the protest will intensify in the coming days.
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After the Assam government approved proposals for setting up two 5-star hotels –Tata Group and Chicago-based Hyatt Hotel Corporation - in Hatikhuli and close to Kaziranga in a bid to promote tourism in the state, a controversy has erupted in the area leading to protests. The Assam Tea Tribes Students Association (ATTSA) has expressed serious concern over the proposals of big hotels in the area.
ATTSA organising secretary Anit Gaur talking to GPlus said, “The protest will continue,” adding that the people of the tea garden community who have been living there for generations have been deprived of their land by the state government.
“It is the matter of the people living in the area and we will continue to oppose the hotels.” It needs to be mentioned that on 3rd August when the MoU signing ceremony was going on in Guwahati there was a huge protest in Hatikhuli tea estate against the proposed hotel.
Vice-President of All Adivasi Students Association Rustum Kujir talking to GPlus said, “We will reach the location tomorrow (7th August) and intensify the protest against the five star hotels in the area,” adding that they will oppose all proposed five star hotels as these will impact the lives of the tea garden workers and the Adivasis living there. If required, they may even move the court.
Manoj Gowala, a labourer working in Hatikhuli Tea Estate and the local resident of the area since ages talking to GPlus said, “This land belongs to the Adivasi people of the area, mostly tea garden labourers, and have been occupied by the government,” adding that the families have miyadi land patta documents but still they are not allowed to enter their land. Gowala said 45 families who have been sustaining for generations on the crop from the area are not allowed to enter their own agricultural land. Gowala claimed he owns 7 bighas of land there. Hatikhuli Inglay Pothar is located near the Kohora range at Kaziranga, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. He was talking about the proposed site for Hyatt hotel. The Tata group hotel will be inside the Hatikhuli tea estate, and the Adivasi bodies are opposing that hotel too.
The police on 31st August resorted to lathicharge on a group of protesters opposing the proposed hotels in the area. Many ATTSA activists sustained injuries during the protest.
The district commissioner of Golaghat Dr. P Uday Praveen earlier talking to GPlus said, “The allegations are false and the land belongs to the government,” adding that some parties claimed ownership of the land but whenever they were asked to show papers they did not have anything to show. He also said that only 30 bighas of government land has been allotted to the ATDC for the hotel project.
Earlier in July, the Assam Environmental NGO Forum had written to the Assam chief minister to shift the proposed five star hotel project from Ingley Pothar to somewhere in Bokakhat or Jakholabanda.
In a letter to the chief minister, they (the forum) highlighted the importance of these areas for elephants, rhinos, tigers, and other wildlife, especially during floods. Disrupting these natural pathways could have disastrous consequences for both animals and nearby communities.
The founder of the forum, Moloy Baruah, talking to GPlus said, “We did not receive any reply from the chief minister yet, but we are hopeful that the project will be shifted from Ingley Pothar.”