The Zeliangrong Baudi (AMN) on Thursday stated that the Civil Organisations (ZCOs) urged the authority concerned to bring amicable solution to the grievances of the affected landowners whose ancestral land and other properties are being damaged and affected by the ongoing construction of Tamenglong-Mahur road.
The government should be proactive with the role and responsibility of alleviating the hardship of the aggrieved and affected people with measures to provide alternative means to replace the loss and damage by extending commensurate compensation in accordance to provisions of law, stated a release.
In some cases, the wrong approach of the government has impeded the smooth progress of developmental activities especially road construction works of which Tamenglong-Mahur road project is a glaring example, it mentioned.
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The ongoing protests by landowners demanding compensation during ongoing work highlight that the authorities misled these individuals before the project began despite the enactment and enforcement of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, it stated.
The government should take strong disciplinary action against the officials responsible for failing to fulfill their duties as per provisions of law, as this has hindered the progress of development work, it added.
Agitation and protest of the land owners would not have emerged had the concerned competent authority rightfully well informed, timely and properly sensitised of the legitimate right and entitlements of land owners as per the provisions of law, it stated.
It is the government’s duty to address the demands of affected landowners. The landowners in specific areas of Zeliangrong territories should not be deprived of their right to compensation, especially when landowners in other sections of the Tamenglong–Mahur road are receiving them, it added.
