E-Paper
Villagers oppose land acquisition
ANGRY WITH the acquisition of their agricultural land for developing the training centre of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) thousands of villagers blocked Gorakhpur - Sonauli highway at Campierganj for at least three hours, throwing the movement of traffic out of gear. The blockade led by SP MLA Kamlesh Paswan was lifted only after the assurance by the administration that agricultural land would not be acquired for the purpose.
ANGRY WITH the acquisition of their agricultural land for developing the training centre of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) thousands of villagers blocked Gorakhpur - Sonauli highway at Campierganj for at least three hours, throwing the movement of traffic out of gear. The blockade led by SP MLA Kamlesh Paswan was lifted only after the assurance by the administration that agricultural land would not be acquired for the purpose.
It is to be noted that the divisional training office of SSB is situated here in the building of a closed fertilizer unit and the time of tenancy is likely to expire by December this year. Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan had hinted that the closed fertilizers unit would be reopened. In view of the statement of the Union Minister, SSB officials stepped up efforts to establish a separate training centre and requested the district administration to provide 45000-acre land in any part of the district.
According to sources, the district administration had suggested to the SSB to establish the training centre near Belipar but the SSB officials were not satisfied as the area lacked proper infrastructure and an approach road. They found suitable land in Jarhad, Nainasar and Raipur villages in Chargawan block of the district. SSB officials requested the district officials to acquire the land and the survey was started by the lekhpal and district administration in this regard.
As the news spread in the area regarding land acquisition, villagers approached local MP Adityanath and appealed to him to intervene in the case to save their land. Though Adityanath discussed the issue with the SSB officials but the villagers were not satisfied and they approach the local MLA Kamlesh Paswan and blocked traffic movement to express their anger.
They also constituted a Sangarsh Samiti and its chairman Ramlakhan Prasad issued a warning to launch a movement if the proposal for acquisition of land was not dropped.
