RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, June 10: A widow, who lost her husband in the second wave of corona pandemic in April 2021, is now passing sleepless nights after the district administration reached to demolish her banquet hall to pave the path for the Birsa Munda Airport expansion project.
Sharing her problem with Lagatar24.com, the widow, Neeta Kumari, said she had never expected such a fate of her life after the death of her husband.
“My husband, Sudesh Sahay, had constructed a banquet hall spending all his savings to generate a source of earning. After his death, it came as a great help for me as it was giving me sufficient income to impart proper education to my three children and take care of my octogenarian father-in-law and mother-in-law besides paying proper attention to my eight regular staff and their family members. All of a sudden on June 1, Namkum Circle Officer (CO) Vinod Prajapati deputed an earth mover to demolish it. Though following protests it could not be possible so far, I pass sleepless nights. I am already shattered after the death of my husband. Now after thinking about my fate after the demolition of the banquet hall, I am having sleepless nights,” Kumari said.
Kumari said although she has all the documents but still she is being treated as an encroacher.
“My husband constructed a banquet hall after registration and mutation of land in 2012. Ranchi Municipal Corporation approved the building plan. JUVNL gave a power connection. But despite all this, the circle officer threatened to demolish the banquet hall saying the land had been acquired in 2008 for the airport expansion and what happened after that was illegal. My question: how did the same circle office do the mutation when it was in its knowledge that the land was acquired? Why any sign board did not inform us about the acquisition? After my husband constructed a banquet hall, several houses were constructed in 11 years but no one turned up from the circle office to stop them and now when life settled pressure is being created to demolish the houses and oust all. This is injustice in free India,” she said with tears in her eyes.
The lady said her eldest daughter has just completed her B.Tech and she needs money for her further education and marriage. Apart from this, she also expressed her concern for her son pursuing a BBA course and a daughter who just completed Plus 2 from Kairali School besides the children of her staff depending on her.
A locality resident Ritesh Kumar Singh supported the lady. “The lady is really in trouble. Her husband was very kind and gentleman and always used to support the needy. One cannot expect such a fate of his widow. Due to the demolition threat, she is not able to book her banquet hall. From June 1 to 3, the district administration used the banquet hall free of cost as an office and created many disturbances. Many functions got disturbed causing loss of money and reputation to the lady,” Singh said.
As many as 400 houses are facing demolition threats in the locality where the lady’s banquet hall exists. In December last year, the CO sent an encroachment notice. When it was challenged in the Jharkhand High Court, the matter lingered for almost five months and still several cases related to the issue are pending before the court. Locals including tribals and other communities have also started their protests. According to them, the administration wants to displace them for airport expansion without rehabilitation and compensation packages and this is wrong.
District administration officials said the matter is being examined and all steps are being taken to ensure proper justice to all.
