Displaced By Construction Of Airport, Daloo Tea Estate Workers To Get Rs 1 Lakh Compensation

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Displaced By Construction Of Airport, Daloo Tea Estate Workers To Get Rs 1 Lakh Compensation

The Assamese state government has authorised ₹1 lakh to compensate Daloo tea estate workers for the expected displacement by greenfield airport construction.

The state government of Assam notified on May 29 that the evicted tea estate workers in Daloo village would get ₹1 lakh compensation. The state will give it to each family of tea estate workers. Around 1200 families working in the tea estate of Daloo, Cachar district had been evicted to pave the way for building the Greenfield airport.

"Payment of Rs 1 lakh as compensation to each of the 1263 garden families of Daloo tea estate (total of ₹ 12.63 crores) as a goodwill gesture for their cooperation in the development work of Greenfield Airport at Silchar," as reported by Northeast Now.

Greenfield Airport Project

The project is set to take over 2500 bighas of land of the tea estate in Daloo. The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Assam government has approximated the cost of this project as ₹50 crores. The tea estate owner had given his consent; however, 2000 tea garden workers protested against this decision.

The workers fear the loss of livelihood and demanded the state to build an airport in an area where there isn't any plantation, as reported by NE India Broadcast. The Lalbagh area in the Daloo estate has been laden with protests since May 12, 2022, after more than a hundred bulldozers entered the room to clear all the tea plantations.

Tea Estate Workers' Protest

Even after the imposition of Section 144 in the Daloo tea estate area, hundreds of tea estate workers came to the clearance site in heavy rains to stage a protest. Nonetheless, due to tight security, they could not storm into the eviction site. The workers started pleading and bowing their heads before the security guards to let them go, but they were unheard, and the eviction began. Many tea bushes have been destroyed in the past two weeks of the clearing drive, as reported by Odisha TV.

As the last resort, tea estate workers have requested their Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's intervention. They are also trying to spearhead a more significant movement against the destruction of tea estates by including other tea estate workers.

Also Read: '10 Years Of Hardwork In Ashes': UPSC Aspirant Misses Seat By 11 Marks In Last Attempt

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