Correspondent

PASIGHAT, 4 Aug: The 12-hour bandh enforced here in East Siang district by the Bogong Banggo Kebang (BBK) and allied organisations passed off peacefully on Tuesday.

The BBK, in association with the Bogong Banggo Land Action Committee (BBLAC), Bogong Banggo Yameng Kebang (BBYK), and All Bogong Students’Union enforced the 12-hour bandh in support of their five-point demands, which include a transparent land allotment policy and eviction of illegal encroachers from government land in Pasighat urban town.

The protesting organisations have been demanding that the East Siang district administration institute cross-verification  of recent land allotments in the Pasighat urban area, evict illegal land occupants, and include BBK and BBLAC members in the District Land Allotment Committee.

They further demanded that the district authority conduct eviction drives to remove encroachments and unauthorised settlement on the premises of educational institutions in the township.

Financial institutes, shops and other commercial and private offices remained closed for the day, and vehicles were off the town’s roads during the bandh hours.

However, essential services were exempted from the purview of the bandh.

Apart from heated arguments that occurred between protesters and government officials in front of the East Siang DC’s office in the morning, the overall law and order situation of the district was reported to be peaceful during the bandh.

The protesters say that their anger stemmed from the fact that the East Siang district administration, even after repeated approaches, did not respond to their genuine demands.

They have announced “more rigorous movement” in the second week of this month if the district administration does not heed their demands.