SHILLONG: Hima Nongspung is contemplating to approach the Assam Government with an aim to get back the protected forest at Kowa Sing Hill which was given to the British Government way back in 1887 for tree plantation.
“We would want to retrieve the protected forest of around 10 square km which was handed over by the Hima to the British Government in 1887. We want Assam government to return the same,” Hima Nongspung general secretary Michael Warjri told newsmen here on Thursday.
He said that the Assam Government had encroached into the protected forest which belongs to Hima in 1971.
“Besides this protected forest”, Warjri said, “The Hima also wants to retrieve the land which was leased out to a British gentleman to set up a tea garden.”
“We have received information that a Kolkata-based firm has taken over the tea garden known as ‘Mem Basti’. The Kolkata-based firm has taken over the tea garden since the family of the British gentleman had failed to repay the loan money,” he said.
“We would not hesitate to approach Court if the both Assam Government and the firm refuse to comply with the request to return the land. We have got all the relevant documents to prove our ownership of the both (the reserve forest and the tea garden),” he said.
Warjri also criticized the Assam Government for violating the High Court directive pertaining to setting up of fresh projects in villages under the Hima.
“We also brought this to the notice of Chief Minister Mukul Sangma. But sadly so far, the State Government has not take up the matter with its counterpart to ask them to withdraw the electricity connection and water supply in the villages under Hima,” Warjri said.
When ask as to why the villages accepting the projects initiated by Assam Government, he said that the problem is that majority of the population in the villages along inter-State border have some inclination towards Assam since most of them have dual voting rights both in Assam and Meghalaya. “Even though the Hima is opposing these projects, the residents of these villages are exploiting the situation by trying to show their loyalties towards Assam,” he said.
