Dibrugarh: The All Assam Tangsa Students’ Union (AATSU), along with local residents, staged a torchlight rally in Malu village, Assam on Tuesday, protesting against the alleged encroachment of tribal land by Tikak Colliery.
Villagers have raised concerns over the continuous dumping of coal waste on their land, posing a significant threat to their community. In response, protestors marched through the village in the evening, chanting slogans against the colliery’s alleged forceful disposal of coal waste in their area.
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Tikak Colliery, operated by Northeastern Coalfields Coal India Ltd (CIL), has been repeatedly accused of using tribal land for waste disposal, fueling tensions between the local population and authorities.
“The land belongs to us. We had given it to Coal India, but now they are dumping waste materials on it without our consent. We have informed the authorities, yet the dumping continues. Where will the Tangsa people go? We have lived here for decades,” said a member of AATSU.
The student body accused the authorities of ignoring indigenous rights and warned that protests would intensify if the dumping did not stop.
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On Saturday, tensions escalated when members of the Tangsa community confronted security personnel in Malu village over the dumping of waste materials. School students also joined the protest against Coal India Limited.
The proposed dumping site poses a severe threat to the region’s ecological balance, affecting four villages Malu, Mulong, Jharna Basti, and China Basti, which collectively house over 1,500 residents.
The area, rich in biodiversity, is home to diverse communities, including Tangsa, Gorkha, Assamese, Hindi-speaking, Bengali, Muslim, Manipuri, and Adivasi residents, many of whom have lived there since the villages were established between 1947 and 1952.