TURA:
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has said his government intends to replicate the Williamnagar settlement model not just for the B Mahal region but Tura as well, where settlers have encroached into government owned lands.
Settlers in Warima and Balsrigittim of Williamnagar town have for decades encroached into government lands and the government has decided to allow them to retain their plots on condition of paying compensation of Rs 2.55 lakh for each as part of a settlement agreement that will benefit the government monetarily and the settlers with their claim over the land.
The chief minister in a meeting at Tikrikilla to clear the controversy over the B-Mahal land issue also announced a similar exercise in Tura where swathes of prime government land have fallen prey to encroachers for many years.
“In the same way as Williamnagar where the settlement has benefitted the people and the state, we have already started the initiative for Tura where the government lands are encroached. We have begun the exercise in tandem with the GHADC to end this problem,” said the chief minister.
It is worth mentioning that despite the settlement made in Williamnagar, settlers from Warima area are opposing the compensation fee of Rs 2.55 lakh terming it exorbitant and beyond the reach of the settlers who are basically farmers and daily wage earners.
The opposition to the fee settlement is being spearheaded by former GHADC MDC Mahamsing M Sangma who is also a resident of Warima alongside former congress minister Deborah C Marak, another Warima resident.