Villagers displaced by erosion in Lakhimpur still await new homes

North Lakhimpur (Assam): It has been nearly two-and-a-half-decades since a bustling village perished to erosion in Assam’s Lakhimpur district, and for an entire generation, homes were all but temporary shacks on the embankment of river Subansiri.

The residents of Kasomari village, which was swept away following floods in 2001, were finally rehabilitated in 2018 to the ‘No. 1 Hindu Adarsha Gaon’ (model village), about five kms from here.

Locals, however, claimed that the process of land allotment and introduction of welfare schemes have moved at a glacial pace in the new village, though Lakhimpur MP Pradan Baruah maintained that swift progress has been made in the last couple of years.

Monikanta Das, a resident of the model village, said they had got in touch with the state government for land soon after settling on the embankment, but it was only in 2012 that the land advisory committee approved a plot for rehabilitating them.

“For over five years, due to some political pressure, we were not handed over the land. It took a Right to Information Act application for the allotment to be made on April 9, 2018,” Das claimed.

Allotment was made for 153 families as per the original list, though the number increased to about 220 by 2018.

Another villager said due to non-allotment of agricultural land, they have to work as daily wage labourers in nearby areas to eke out a living.