Locals denounce eviction notice
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, July 07 2019:
Guigailong Village Authority, women society, youth club members and general public staged a sit-in protest today at Tarung Auto-parking waiting shed denouncing an eviction noticed served by the Forest Department.
The notice to evict vendors, shops and other establishment at the auto-parking was served on July 6, said the protesters.
The people of Guigailong village are poor daily bread earners who depend on the meagre amount they get via their stalls in the area, they said condemning pointing out that they have not set up permanent structures in the area concerned.
Meanwhile a joint statement of Guigailong Village Authority, Guigailong Youth Club and Guigailong Women Development has termed the notice served as "illegal" and said that "Section 4(5) of Forest Rights Act 2006 provides that no member of a forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes or other traditional forest dweller shall be evicted or removed from the forest land under his occupation till the recognition and verification procedure is completed".
"Guigailong Forest Rights Committee is under process of verification...
we can't be evicted until and unless the procedure is completed, said the joint statement.
Guigailong is an old tribal village and its occupants' history can be traced back to 1735 they were a part of their mother village - Tarung Khuman (now Langol Tarung).
Later in the year 1980, the village was bifurcated from its mother village in quest for better livelihood and administration, it said.
The protesters at the sit-in appealed all CSOs, NGOs and general public to support their cause and urged Department concerned to roll back the eviction notice in public interest.