Susmita to continue eviction at any cost

SILCHAR, Nov 17: Silchar Municipality Board (SMB) Chairperson Susmita Dev made it clear that she would start eviction of illegal occupants on government land with the help of the district administration and police.

“Even if this eviction drive results in erosion of my party’s vote-bank, I will go ahead with the drive as this is the only way out to save Silchar,” Susmita said in a seminar that was organized by the SMB on Sunday. She cited the example of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit who, in spite severe criticism, had carried out a massive eviction drive, and come out with flying colours in the election that followed.

Taking part in the seminar that lasted for at least seven hours, Parliamentary Secretary (Finance) Ajit Singh and Silchar MLA Bithika Dev said that they would persuade the State Government to resume the stalled Storm Water Drainage Project in the town. MP Kabindra Purkayastha, on the other hand, said that NBCC left the project halfway as the State Government had wanted to do the Rs 158-crore project itself. He expressed astonishment as to why the State Government did not take any step to resume the work of the stalled project. He assured the SMB of full support and cooperation in this regard.

From the deliberation of the marathon interaction among representatives of various business organizations, vehicle associations, government officials, public representatives, social workers, educationists and journalists, two prime issues came up prominently. Firstly, the district administration had failed to evict the illegal settlers on government land for which the roads in the town could not be widened. ADC HA Laskar, representing the district administration, could not provide a satisfactory reply as to why they failed to continue the eviction drive.

Secondly, the speakers reached a consensus that the people in general lack civic sense. The speakers laid stress on revamping the traffic network in the town. Traffic in-charge Swapan Dev said though the SMB had issued licences to 4,000 rickshaws, Silchar town has as many as 15,000 rickshaws that create traffic snarls in the town. Dev, however, evaded a reply when asked as to how 11,000 rickshaws without licences are allowed to paddle in the town under the very nose of the SMB.

Susmita Dev said she will formulate an action plan from the suggestions generated at the seminar. Deepan Dewanjee, Arijit Aditya, Debasree Dutta and Himashish Bhattacharjee conducted the seminar and question answer session. THE SENTINEL