DINAJPUR: A raucous siege to Barapukuri Coalmine coupled with road-rail barricades came to an end early Tuesday following “successful” negotiations between the protestors and the authorities over compensation payments to the affected locals.
Jiban and Sampad Rakkha Committee convener Ibrahim Khalil told banglanews24.com.bd that the mine management and an 11-member delegation of the government sat with them at 10 pm Monday, and the talks lasted till 1 am. “The authorities assured of meeting all the demands of the villagers and the agitators decided to call off all their programmes.”
The leader of the protestors also said a government delegation will visit the affected villages, and in line with their suggestions, the compensation will be paid to the villagers. But they were unaware as to when the compensations will be paid.
Managing Director of the coalmine company Mohammad Kamaruzzaman, General Manager (mining) Abdul Matin, UNO of Parbatipur upazila Mujib-ul-Ferdous and engineers of the coalmine were present at the tripartite meeting.
Ibrahim Khalil, Belal Hossain, Sultan Mahmud, Osman Gani, Mahfuz, Ruhul Amin, Moazzem Hossain Hitler, Ajgar Ali, Abdur Rouf and Ayub Ali were present on behalf of the villagers.
The General Manager (mining) told banglanews24.com.bd that a nine-member committee would be formed Tuesday to settle the claims. “The committee will fix the amounts of compensation and the compensation will be given accordingly by fixing a date.”
The people of 11 nearby villages laid a siege in front of the coal mine at 11 am Monday demanding compensation for 486 acres of croplands and damage to 2,600 houses and land and demanding jobs for the victims.
In the morning, the villagers marched through the areas and then started squatting in front of the main gate of the mine. Over 5,000 people, including 1,000 women, took part in the sit-in. They also stopped supply of coal to the coal-fired power plant nearby in the afternoon.
The protestors also put barricades on the railway between Parbatipur and Rajshahi placing trees and boulders. Roadblocks were also put up on the Dinajpur-Dhaka highway, disrupting transport communications of the northern region with the rest of the country.
The administration posted police to quell the agitation, but the law-enforcers had to remain silent spectators in the face of agitation by the hordes of villagers. Police then freed the rail-line and the highway at night.
BDST/ 1100 HRS, JULY 20, 2010
