Imphal, July 18 : The dispute over a residential area in the heart of this town has reached the flash point with the Manipur government trying to acquire it for a state-owned five-star hotel and the 35 residents resisting the move tooth and nail.
The government has now instituted a vigilance commission inquiry to look into the land allotment status of the residents after all other efforts met with strong resistance.
The Ibobi Singh government plans to construct a five-star hotel in the area, Kabo Leikai, after evacuating the residents. The hotel will then be leased out to the private sector.
On July 11, revenue commissioner S. Sunderlal issued an memorandum declaring detection of “serious irregularities/illegalities” in the land allotments, made in 2006 by the land revenue and settlement department. He also served showcause notices on the 35 landowners asking them to answer as to why the “unauthorised” allotments should not be cancelled.
The vigilance commission has also asked the landowners for their original land pattas as part of the inquiry.
“All these are attempts to browbeat the landowners and acquire the land forcibly. We will not succumb to such an undemocratic approach of the government,” the chairman of the area, also known as Naga River Colony, K. Golmei, said.
The government has not keyed down its efforts despite the fact that the matter is now sub judice.
The residents had filed a petition against the government in the Imphal bench of Gauhati High Court, which fixed August 11 as the next date for hearing of the case. The court had also directed the state government to produce the original land allotment records on or before the next hearing.
Responding to the vigilance commission’s directive, 11 landowners wrote to the commission to wait till disposal of the court case.
A joint action committee formed by the landowners is now consulting legal experts on how to respond to the revenue commissioner’s showcase notice.
“We will not submit our original land records to the government as it may destroy them to acquire our land forcibly. We will submit them to the court,” Gomei said.
The issue has also been brought to the notice of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, after John Dayal, a member of the National Integration Council, submitted a report of a fact-finding mission headed by him on the Kabo Leikai issue.
Sonia, in her letter to Dayal, assured him that she would request the Ibobi Singh government to look into the grievances of the landowners.
A team, comprising rights activists from different parts of India, also visited Imphal last month to examine the land acquisition process and objected to the manner in which the Ibobi Singh government was going about it.
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