‘Lack of transparency in land acquisition for Airport,’ alleges Sushmita & writes to Chief Secretary for relevant documents

June 10: Amid the controversy regarding setting up of a Greenfield Airport at Doloo Tea Estate in Cachar district of Assam, TMC MP Sushmita Dev wrote a letter to Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Union Minister of Civil Aviation on 24 May, 2022, wherein she sought clarification as whether the Ministry has sanctioned the construction of such an Airport. In response to the letter, Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia on 8 June, 2022 replied that till date, no proposal as per GFA Policy, 2008 to construct a Greenfield airport in Cachar District of Assam has been received in the Ministry. It needs mention here that a similar reply was also given by the Ministry in response to an RTI query on 31 May, 2022.

A day later, responding to this, on behalf of district administration, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue), Pankaj Kr Deka issued a written statement, wherein he asserted that the entire process of land acquisition for construction of Greenfield Airport at Doloo was done following due procedure.

However, on Friday, TMC MP Sushmita Dev in response to the reply given by Cachar District Administration, wrote a letter to Jishnu Barua, Chief Secretary of Assam. Expressing her reaction, Ms Dev said, “The office of the Deputy Commissioner of Cachar is confident of having followed all procedures for acquiring land to build greenfield airport at Cachar so I am sure Chief Secretary of Assam will provide the documents which is still awaited from District Administration.”

Welcoming the Greenfield Airport project in Silchar, Sushmita Dev stated that the project has failed to maintain transparency. “The District Administration of Cachar on 12th May, 2022 used huge amounts of police force and logistics to clear out the area earmarked for building the airport. The images that emerged from that exercise showed Tea garden workers begging for mercy. Lacs of tea plants were uprooted in a day. I am taken by surprise because the Member of Parliament, Silchar Lok Sabha in an all party meeting held at DC’s Office, Silchar on 8th May, 2022 gave very big assurances that all procedures have been followed and every stake holders’ rights have been protected as per law. We from All India Trinamool Congress made it crystal clear that we support an airport in Cachar but the rights of the workers who are being displaced or impacted by the land acquisition must be protected as per the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. The Minutes of all party meeting are yet to be supplied to us,” wrote Ms Dev to the Chief Secretary.

The office of @dccachar is confident of having followed all procedures for acquiring land to build greenfield airport at Cachar so I am sure Chief Secretary of Assam will provide the documents which is still awaited from District Administration.

What have they got to hide !!!!! pic.twitter.com/N9JapUEdyJ

— Sushmita Dev সুস্মিতা দেব (@SushmitaDevAITC) June 10, 2022

The TMC MP further added, “If the Administration is confident of having followed all rules and procedures then I see no reason why the list of documents and records I need, is being withheld. If you feel I should be looking at any document uploaded on any government website do point me in the right direction. I hope you appreciate that these documents are mandatorily to be made public as per the 2013 Act. I hope your office will show transparency in this regard which the Cachar Administration has failed till now despite my reminder letter on 7 June, 2022. I also need to point out that there is a status quo order enclosed herewith regarding Ownership of the Company that holds the land in question.”

She further pointed out here that “the Joint Secretary, Transport Department, Government of Assam vide letter dated 23 April, 2022, the land in question of Dolu Tea Estate in Cachar is being handed over to the Airports Authority whereas the site clearance as per the 2008 guidelines under the Greenfield Airports Policy has not been granted by the Steering Committee headed by the Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation. I find it appalling to put it mildly that Deputy Commissioner, Cachar has failed to respond to the queries by a Member of Parliament. To my mind, it is a total lack of transparency on the part of the Administration and it is happening under your watch. You have my full co-operation for such an important project but the serious dereliction of duty to say the least, on the part of the administration is nothing short of breach of privilege.”