Silchar: The indefinite blockade on NH 37 (earlier NH 53) connecting Imphal with Badarpur and Silchar-Kalain Road called by All Barak Youth Students’ Association (ABYSA), Brihattar Salchapra Sangram Samanvay Samiti (BSSSS) and Borkhola Gram Vikash Parishad (BGVP) disrupted traffic on the two important routes on Monday.
The agitation was called by the NGOs seeking setting up of the proposed 75,000 MT capacity mega godown of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) at Salchapra, 15-km from Silchar near the North-east Frontier Railway’s proposed new goods terminus in line with its broad gauge facilities.
However, the blockades at Salchapra and Bhangarpar points respectively was withdrawn at 1430 hours during the day after district administration interfered into it as the deputy commissioner (Cachar) Harendra Kumar Dev Mahanta called the agitators in his chamber in a meeting on the issue in the evening.
Sources said hundreds of agitators at Salchapra on NH 37 and Bhangarpar point of Silchar-Kalain Road started picketing from 9 am disrupting movement of traffic on the two routes.
This led to cutting off of Cachar and Mizoram from the rest of the region. Hundreds of trucks, buses, cars and other vehicles were stranded on both sides of the places of agitation. Passengers were the harassed the most.
Although the administration made strong security arrangements in the view of the agitation, there was no report of any arrest.
In the afternoon an extra assistant commissioner along with senior police officials rushed to Salchapra and conveyed the massage of the DC to the leaders of the agitation urging them to have a discussion on the subject.
Following brief parley with Hazarika, the agitators agreed to withdraw the blockades and joined the meeting in the evening.
ABYSA chief convenor Baharul Islam Barbhuiya told UNI that a notification from the competent authority was made to acquire 234 bighas of land in Salchapra area vide government notification for the setting up of the FCI’s mega godown.
A goods terminus of the NF Railway is also coming up adjacent to the area for its broad gauge facilities and the work for the same is near completion. (UNI)