The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) is finally set to start work on building a Gorkha Bhawan at Saket in New Delhi, which will prove beneficial for people of the Hills who go to the capital city for various work.

The project had been taken up three years ago, but the plan hit a snag following a dispute over the land owned by the GTA.

However, chairman of the GTA Board of Administrators, Binoy Tamang, on Friday said that the five families that had encroached on the land there were finally removed on Friday by the Delhi police in the presence of GTA secretary C Murugan and other officials.

“We had been fighting for the property legally as it belonged to the GTA. We had even asked the Bengal government to write to the Centre regarding the matter, which they had, while we had also filed a case in the Delhi High Court about two months ago. Only on Thursday, the Delhi government, along with the Centre, agreed that the land there belonged to the GTA,” Mr Tamang said.

“This morning, the Delhi police, along with five GTA representatives, removed the illegal occupants from the land,” he added. According to him, a ‘bhoomi puja’ was also done there on Friday.

“We are putting up a boundary wall there, while a detailed project report of the building is already prepared. We will start work on building the Gorkhaland Welfare Bhawan there in two months’ time. It will be a modern building. There will be a separate place for people who are sick and who go there for medical check-up and treatment. There will be separate spaces for students too. There will be variety stores on the premises, and doctors would also be available,” he said.

Mr Tamang also said that though the estimated cost of the project was about Rs 24 crore, the construction would be phased, as the GTA does not have the entire funds for the building. “I will also go to Delhi, along with some representatives of the state, to see the area,” he said.

‘Graft slur baseless’

On the other hand Mr Tamang, who is also the leader of the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha, asked political parties not to level baseless allegations like corruption in the GTA.

“I have always maintained from the start that I want to practice zero-enmity politics, but for the past few days, some leaders are alleging different things like there being corruption in the GTA. I do not know what took place before I took over, but after 25 September 2017, after the BoA took over, there has been no corruption in the GTA. If they have evidences to prove their claims, they should go with them to the state government or the anti-corruption bureau. If they provide such proof of corruption in the GTA, I will step down from my post here. They can strengthen their parties as this is a democracy, but they should not do politics based on lies,” said Mr Tamang. He, however, did not name any political outfit.