Worker unions questioned the legitimacy of a public hearing conducted outside the tea garden area, and in which the project affected workers were not heard. They also demanded cancellation of the EIA report done in violation of the Supreme Court’s order in the matter.

Groundxero | June 23, 2025

Assam Chief Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said a public hearing has been completed at Cachar district’s Dolu Tea Estate, where the state government has decided to acquire land of a tea garden for setting up a greenfield airport. He said that the government is now one step closer to realising the “grand vision” for the region. The Asom Mojuri Shramik Union (AMSU) leading the tea garden workers’ struggle against the project said that by ignoring the demands of 2,486 workers of the garden, no legitimate public hearing for the Dolu airport project can take place.

The public hearing, which took place at Hatichara Gram Panchayat in Silchar, was organised by the Assam Pollution Control Board. The hearing was attended by representatives of several trade unions like AMSU, CITU, NTUI, INTUC and BMS.

DC (Cachar) Mridul Yadav, speaking to the media after the public hearing said that a total of 151 memorandums were submitted, of which 145 expressed their support for the project. “The few that raised objections did not oppose the project itself, but highlighted the need for fair rehabilitation, pollution control mechanisms, local employment assurances and environmental safeguards,” he added.

The workers, under the aegis of Asom Mojuri Shramik Union (AMSU), have expressed unhappiness over the development and demanded that the government shift the project to another location, return the already acquired land or allot the same area of land at a different place for tea plantation. AMSU is leading the tea garden workers opposing the project at Dolu. Representatives of AMSU along with three other unions of the Dolu Tea Garden and the Forum for Social Harmony, who attended the hearing, gave written submission on behalf of the 2,486 workers of the garden, demanding cancellation of the EIA report and holding of the public hearing.

Arindam Deb and Biswajit Das of AMSU said the workers are against the destruction of 2,500 bighas of land, with 30 lakh tea plants along with thousands of big trees. Deb said, “The life and livelihood of tea workers, the environment and the tea industry will be affected. Why is the government not considering other places like Kharil. Why are they insisting on Dolu?”

A brief background

In early 2022, the Assam government had proposed a new airport in Silchar spread over 2,500 bighas (826.45 acres) of land at Dolu tea garden. The management and owner of the garden agreed to give away the land but workers of the Mainagarh and Lalbagh division of Dolu Tea Estate vehemently opposed the decision. The state administration, Airport Authority of India (AAI) and a few unions of the tea estate had several meetings, and on March 7 (2022) a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Dolu Tea Company Ltd and three Unions, Barak Cha Shramik Union, Akhil Bharatiya Chai Mazdoor Sangh and Barak Valley Chah Mazdoor Sangh. The state government announced to pay a sum of Rs 50 crore to the garden management for transferring land for the project.

However, a few other worker Unions and majority of workers of the tea estate, were unhappy with the clauses in the MoU which included payment of pending PF, gratuity and wages by the company with the amount received for the land. Also, there was no clear mention of compensation or rehabilitation of those workers who will lose jobs because of the land transfer for the proposed airport. The MoU didn’t take into account the major concerns regarding life and livelihood raised by most workers of the estate.

Thereafter, a public hearing was held and more than 2000 workers of Dolu tea estate signed a memorandum against the land transfer and made their stand clear that they do not agree to the clauses in the MoU. The workers said that payment of PF, gratuity or wage cannot be part of land acquisition or transfer compensation. The company is anyway legally obliged to pay them all their dues.

Forcible acquisition of land 

But instead of taking note of the workers’ demands and pleas made in the public hearing and in several protests held outside the Silchar DC office, the Assam government decided to go ahead with land acquisition for the proposed Airport project. On 11th May, 2022, Section 144 was imposed in the area around the tea estate. Hundreds of JCBs (bulldozers) under heavy police protection, rolled into the tea garden. Workers cried, begged, pleaded that their concerns be addressed and the process of uprooting the tea plants should stop. But they were forcefully removed from the area and the operation was carried out with almost 41 lakh tea plants being uprooted and thousands of shade trees of at least 1 meter or more diameter were felled as part of the process of acquiring 325 hectares of land. Almost 2000 permanent and temporary workers lost their livelihoods overnight.

In the face of huge protests from various quarters against damage to flourishing tea gardens, ecological damage in a sensitive area, and unwarranted loss of livelihoods of thousands of people, in November 2022, the Chief Minister distributed Rs 12.96 crore of financial assistance to 1,296 families in the Doloo Tea Estate, calling it a “goodwill gesture,” and also assured that none of the workers will lose their jobs.

The Supreme Court halt the project

After the National Green Tribuna (NGT) dismissed the plea of the petitioners to halt the project on the ground that environmental impact assessment report is awaited and the environmental clearance for the airport in question has not been granted, the matter finally landed in the Supreme Court.

A special three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, justice J B Pardiwala and justice Manoj Misra heard a plea filed by West Bengal-based environment activists Tapas Guha, Pradip Roy and Baidyanath Sengupta on April 8 and gave a verdict on May 6.

The plan to construct Greenfield Airport at Doloo in Silchar using part of a tea garden was halted after the Supreme Court of India on April 8, setting aside the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) clearance, ordered the state and Union government to maintain the status quo in Doloo.

On May 6, 2024 the apex court during hearing found that the state government produced wrong information regarding uprooting 4,190,000 tea bushes and questioned the role of the NGT in this matter. A report of a separate survey conducted by a team headed by district court judge Salma Sultana under the Supreme Court’s direction submitted to the court on April 27 found that 200 to 250 JCB (excavators) worked day and night to uproot tea bushes and cut shade trees in Doloo which started on May 12, 2022. During the operation, the locals were prevented from going out of their homes and the local administration imposed section 144 CrPC in that area, the report mentioned.

The SC bench observed that the clearance of tea bushes was not a part of the regular maintenance of the tea estate as claimed by the state government but to facilitate the proposed new airport. The bench noted that no environmental clearance was obtained for the project. And the clearing activities were done contravening the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) notification of 2006 and maintained that no activity breaching the 2006 notification should occur. “Development has to be in conformity with environmental standards prescribed by the law. In consequence, there shall be a direction that absolutely no activity shall be carried out in breach of the provisions of the Notification dated 14 September 2006 at the site of the proposed greenfield airport at Silchar,” the bench said.

Most importantly, the SC bench ordered that “In the event that any application for the grant of Environmental Clearance has been filed or is filed hereafter, the processing of the application shall take place on the basis of the condition of the site as it existed prior to the date on which the illegal clearance of the tea bushes and shade trees took place in the proposed site of the Greenfield airport.”

Following the order of the Supreme Court, Asom Mazuri Shramik Union and Forum For Social Harmony from Silchar said this was a win for the tea garden workers. They suggested the state government establish the airport somewhere else instead of an active tea garden like Doloo. However, the state government said that the Supreme Court has not permanently prevented the state from establishing the Greenfield airport, rather they have asked for environmental clearance.

Public Hearing

In today’s public hearing, AMSU argued that the EIA report should be rejected because it violated the Supreme Court’s ruling as it was done on the present status of the garden. They said that the EIA report has resorted to manipulation by excluding the environmental impact assessment of uprooting 4.2 million tea trees and thousands of shade trees. The EIA report also cunningly avoids mentioning the impact on the Barail Wildlife Sanctuary and Dolu Lake. They strongly demanded the cancellation of this deceptive EIA report, which cleverly hides the threats to workers’ lives and livelihoods. The union said that false information was presented about solving the problems of workers who have lost their jobs as a result of land acquisition through the implementation of the agreement. So, they demanded that the jobless workers be provided work through NREGA to sow tea plants on the acquired land.

The union also questioned the legitimacy of a public hearing conducted outside the project area in which the project affected workers are not heard. The union alleged that the tea garden was kept open so that workers cannot participate in the hearing. Those representing the workers at the hearing, condemned this strategy of the administration of showing majority by bringing in NGO representatives from outside the project site, who played the role of yes-men.

Arindam Deb said “We have not been given any blueprint on how the workers will be rehabilitated. Casual workers must be given permanent status prior to any land demarcation or transfer. Otherwise, their jobs are not assured,” he added. Deb claimed that the proposed airport will create very little employment and Doloo workers’ families will not be able to qualify for the skilled jobs required at the airport, but thousands of workers will lose their livelihood due to reduction of the plantation area of the tea estate.

Conclusion

In a press release the union said that it must be remembered that those who on behalf of the 2,486 workers demanded cancellation of the EIA and the sham public hearing, reflects the opinions of 95 percent of the affected workers. Ignoring them, no legitimate public hearing for the Dolu airport project can take place.

The acquisition of land in Dolu Tea Estate was made possible by coopting the local leaders of the central trade unions and organisations, completely ignoring the voice of  workers, who will be the most impacted, and none of the concerns of the workers have been heard or addressed. This instance can be considered as another example of capital accumulation and appropriation at the cost of lives of the working class, marginalised communities and ecology to profit a few capitalist owners. The process of eviction and land grab has been intensified specially in resource rich regions and areas with help of the government and local administration. Across the country, attacks on marginal communities and indigenous people are being carried out by the Indian State to benefit a few companies. Workers have been living and toiling in tea gardens since decades, without any ownership right on their homestead and minimum wage, and are often an easy prey to class exploitation under the whims of capitalism.

* The press release by Asom Mojuri Shramik Union and the Forum for Social Harmony is given below.

Press Release
23 June 2025

The opinion of the 2,486 workers who have demanded the cancellation of the public hearing and the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is the same as 95% of today’s so-called public hearing. The voices of the present workers were not heard, yet they expressed their support for scrapping the EIA by clapping.

Today, on 23 June, the Pollution Control Board organized a public hearing at Hatichara Gaon Panchayat regarding the EIA report for the Dolu Airport. Prior to this, the Asom Mojuri Shramik Union, three other unions of Dolu Tea Estate, the Forum for Social Harmony, and written statements from 2,486 workers had already been submitted demanding the cancellation of the environmental report and the public hearing.

Accordingly, during today’s public hearing, chaired by the District Commissioner and attended by the Member Secretary of the Assam Pollution Control Board, strong arguments supporting these written statements were presented by Mrinal Kanti Some, Shankar Dhobi, Kamaljit Teli, and Arindam Deb.

The workers who submitted written statements on behalf of the 2,486 workers are also parties in the Supreme Court case, and the Forum for Social Harmony is one of the petitioner organizations in the Supreme Court case. In their statements, they asserted that this EIA report must be scrapped as it violates the Supreme Court’s order. On 12 May 2022, Section 144 was imposed, and forcibly, nearly 42 lakhs tea busher and thousands of shade trees were uprooted using bulldozers. The Supreme Court’s order dated 6 May 2024 (Civil Appeal Nos. 4603-4604 of 2024, Tapash Guha & Ors vs. Union of India & Ors) stated that the EIA must be conducted in its pre-acquisition condition, including tea plants and shade trees. The EIA report has disregarded this directive. Furthermore, another Supreme Court order (WP(C) No. 1394/2023, Vanashakti vs. Union of India) has declared all ex-post-facto notifications invalid. Since the environmental notification for Dolu was issued after land acquisition, it stands invalid. Therefore, they demanded that jobless workers be employed through NREGA to cultivate tea plants on the acquired land.

Representatives from the unions stated that false information has been presented regarding resolving the issues of jobless workers through MoU of land acquisition. Even before land acquisition, in two prior public hearings, all workers unanimously rejected the Dolu airport project, and 2,328 workers submitted written statements to this effect. The EIA report has also resorted to falsehoods in this matter. By uprooting 42 lakhs tea plants and thousands of shade trees, the environmental impact assessment has been manipulated, excluding the destruction reflected in Dolu Tea Estate’s balance sheet and revenue records. The EIA report cunningly avoids mentioning the impact on the Barail Wildlife Sanctuary and Dolu Lake. They strongly demanded the cancellation of this deceptive EIA report, which cleverly hides the threats to workers’ lives and livelihoods.

All speakers questioned the nature of a public hearing conducted outside the project area, where the affected are not heard. The tea estate was kept open today to prevent workers from participating. What does such trickery mean? Everyone condemned the strategy of showing majority support by including some NGO representatives from outside the project site. These NGOs did not present any opinion or argument regarding the EIA; they merely played the role of yes-men. However, it must be remembered that the opinion of the 2,486 workers demanding the cancellation of the public hearing and the EIA represents 95% of today’s so-called public hearing. Ignoring them, no legitimate public hearing for the Dolu airport project can take place.

On behalf of the Asom Mojuri Shramik Union and the Forum for Social Harmony*

Mrinal Kanti Som and Arindam Deb.