Bindukhatta municipality starts functioning

The recently-created Bindukhatta Municipality has started its official tasks by providing various certificates to people living within the municipal limits.  Meanwhile, the Akhil Bhartiya Kisan Mahasabha (ABKM) has continued its protest against creation of the municipality and has decided to gherao the Tehsil on Wednesday.   The municipality’s executive officer Bhuwan Chandra Kandpal officially started the local body’s work at the municipality office being run from the Tehsil on Monday. He began issuing birth and death certificates to people residing in the municipal area. On the other hand the ABKM has continued its protest against making Bindukhatta a municipality. 

Addressing the protesters in the Tehsil compound on Tuesday, the ABKM national secretary Purushottam Sharma said that KS Chauhan, MS Koshyari and SS Koranga who had been on hunger strike for six days ad VS Bora who had been on hunger strike for four days had been forcefully taken from the protest site by the police and admitted to the base hospital in Haldwani.  The protesters had continued their hunger strike in the hospital. Sharma said that the State Government appears to be working in the interests of the land mafia. “The State has made Bindukhatta a municipality as part of its conspiracy to snatch the lands of the poor. The State Government has duped the people by creating Bindukhatta municipality. The State Government and the local MlA and cabinet HC Durgapal are acting like agents of the land mafia in stead of working in the interests of the public,” he alleged.

The ABKM workers were seen publicising the gherao of the Tehsil slated for Wednesday. The agitation is expected to be intensified in the coming days with locals from various parts joining in. On Tuesday morning a large number of locals came to the protest site to register their support to the ABKM movement against the State Government.