Encroachment on govt lands should be vacated or else will be evicted: SMB Chairman

June 24: Traffic congestion has become a regular feature of Silchar town. None seem to obey the rules of the road. Encroaching government land for business purposes has as if become the order of the day. Even drains are occupied my many and shops are opened over it, thereby causing obstruction to free flow of water. Footpaths are under the occupation of small traders. Ultimately, Silchar Municipal Board seems to wake up from its deep slumber and issued a notification to get the government land cleared from encroachment.

Niharendra Narayan Tagore, Chairman of Silchar Municipal Board (SMB) has issued a notification on Monday, wherein he has given a strict warning to all persons who have illegally occupied government land within the Municipal area of Silchar. The notification reads that whoever have encroached Longaikhal, Ranghirkhal, Bachaikhal, Singirkhal, Townkhal, footpaths, government lands and roads for commercial purpose should immediately vacate such illegally occupied land. In case, the encroached land is not vacated, then SMB will have no other option but to carry out an eviction drive. All such shops constructed on government land will be broken and the commodities inside will be seized and forfeited.

However, the same notification is silent about the unplanned and unsystematic garbage disposal procedure followed by SMB. Conscious citizens often accuse the SMB of being indifferent to the time chosen by SMB for garbage disposal from the various points of the town, unhygienic garbage dumping spots in the town, broken culverts, uncovered footpaths and so on. A senior citizen who retired from the Railways said, “Any civic authority must have some holistic plan. Without proper planning, beautification of a town is impossible. Silchar Municipal Board needs to adopt proactive and stringent measures to keep the town free of any sort of congestion.