Land owners threatens to stage blockade on NH-306 and 6

Land Owners’ Association in Assam border Kolasib district has threatened to stage a strike on NH-306 and 6 demanding the state government to resolve ownership of lands along the national highways. The NH-306 and NH-6 are interlinked and connect Mizoram’s capital Aizawl with Assam’s Silchar town. It is the primary lifeline of Mizoram as all supplies come through these highways. A statement issued by  Kolasib District Land Owners’ Association  said that the joint meeting of various landowners along NH-306 and 6 between Vairengte and Sairang on Wednesday decided to stage a blockade commencing from September 25.

The association said that the people of Kolasib have had a tussle with the government over ownership of lands for over three years as the state forest department has frozen their  decades-old lands along the national highways by declaring them as roadside reserved areas. It alleged that due to the ongoing widening project of the national highways into four lanes, the state forest department has notified 800 metres of land on either side  along the stretch of the national highways as Roadside Reserve Forest using the 1965 Roadside Reserve Forest notification for want of compensation.

The forest department has never announced publicly and maintained the areas (800 meters of land on either side of the national highways) as Roadside Reserve Forest in the past, the association claimed. It said that the areas along the stretch of the national highway have been occupied by people for human habitation, plantation and other purposes for decades. The land owners’ association urged the state government to repeal the 1965 notification and also withdraw the freezing order on lands, which they claimed were owned by privates. It further asked the state government to expedite widening of NH-306 and NH-6 into four lanes.