GUWAHATI: The agitation staged by the Laika-Dodhia Rehabilitation Committee has suffered a setback with the passing away of a pregnant woman protester on Friday.
Kusmita Morang (24) of Dodhia village, who was camping with other protesters at Lezaihola Borguri in Tinsukia fell ill a few days back and had to be admitted to Assam Medical College and Hospital (AMCH) in Dibrugarh in a critical condition on Tuesday.
“She was in an unconscious state before her admission at AMCH and had to be administered oxygen. But doctors at AMCH declared her dead at 2am today. Her baby had earlier died in her womb,” Apio Taid, a member of Laika and Dodhia Rehabilitation Committee, told The Shillong Times.
Morang is the second protester to have died in the past few days after another woman, Rebati Pao (55), passed away last month because of an illness.
Irate members of the committee on Friday slammed the “indifference” of the Tinsukia district administration, alleging that facilities like drinking water and basic healthcare have not been provided at the makeshift camp where protesters have taken refuge since the past 19 days now, that too in the midst of a pandemic and temperatures as low as 10 degrees Celsius.
“A middle-aged woman, Indira Mili had to be rushed to Tinsukia Civil Hospital yesterday after she was bleeding profusely from her nose. To make matters worse, at least four to five other women camping at the protest site are indisposed. Yet, the district authorities seem to be in slumber,” Taid rued.
The committee, supported by three leading Mising organisations, is spearheading the agitation for rehabilitation of over 1400 families of Laika and Dodhia, two villages under Dibru Saikhowa National Park in Upper Assam.
He further said the committee members would now demand compensation for the two “martyrs”.
“We will not settle for anything less than Rs 10 lakh as compensation to each of the martyrs’ families by the government. Now, we are even more determined to intensify the protest till our long pending demand of permanent settlement of over 1400 families in a suitable area is fulfilled,” he added.
The Assam government had on December 30, 2020, constituted a ten-member committee to find out ways for relocation and rehabilitation of the residents by the end of this month.
“We have lost our faith in the government. Over the past three years, the government has made assurances for our relocation in two forest areas but to no avail,” he said, adding that the committee is opposed to relocation in a “flood-prone” area identified in Lakhimpur district.
Last year, the government gave a written assurance to rehabilitate the families on a 470-hectare plot in the Ouguri area of Upper Dehing Reserve Forest.
“However the forest department objected to the move, saying that 8,000 trees will have to be uprooted for land clearance,” he said.
The villagers, who belong to the Mising community, mostly displaced people (by the earthquake of 1950) from Dhemaji and Dibrugarh districts, have been residing in the two forest villages for the past several decades now.