Ramakrishna Mission seeks govt’s help to reclaim occupied land in Siliguri
Siliguri: On the heels of attempts to grab Ramakrishna Mission’s ‘Sewak House,’ in Siliguri, there was a complaint of encroachment of another land belonging to Ramakrishna Mission’ in Matigara, Siliguri.
The Ramakrishna Mission Ashram of Sahudangi has sent a letter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee seeking her help to reclaim the land.
On Friday, representatives from the Ashram held a meeting with Gautam Deb, the Mayor of Siliguri, to discuss this issue. The Mayor assured them of all help. “I will help them in communicating with respective departments so that they can get back their land,” said the Mayor.
According to the Ashram, there are about 9.90 acres of land in Matigara area adjacent to a township there. Of this land, the Ashram committee bought 10 bighas in 1976 and the rest are gifts with registered gift deeds.
The ashram committee alleged that as the land lay vacant for more than 30 years, land mafias have occupied the land. Many garages and stalls have been constructed on the land. The ashram committee also said that they had applied for land mutation at the Matigara land and land reforms department in the year 2022 but due to some reasons, the mutation was not granted. They have applied again for mutation on July 15.
“Due to various reasons, we have not been able to maintain the land properly for years. Later, we found out that land mafias had occupied the land and many garages and stalls had been constructed there. We want our land back. We have requested the Chief Minister for help,” said Swami Vinayananda, Secretary of Ramkrishna Mission Ashram, Sahudangi. The ashram committee has also informed Preeti Goyal, the District Magistrate (DM) of Darjeeling district, and C. Sudhakar, the Commissioner of Police.
Mayor Gautam Deb said: “Earlier, the Ashram could not trust the administration. They have faith in our Chief Minister, so they came to us now. I will try to help them to the best of my ability. They need some more documents to reclaim the land. I will help with
the process.”
According to the Ashram’s sources, there are a total of six documents of land ownership that the Ashram has. The Ashram committee alleges that some land mafias have made false documents and
occupied the land.
Earlier too, land mafias attempted to occupy Sewak Bhawan, which belongs to Ramkrishna Mission located on Sevoke road in Siliguri. A total of 12 people were arrested in that case.
