Motihari: A land dispute over the construction of a Rs 15 crore water park at Piprakothi in East Champaran escalated on Friday after police registered an FIR against RJD’s Buxar MP Sudhakar Singh and 27 others for allegedly disrupting work at the project site and attempting to occupy disputed land.The tourism department is developing the flagship water park near Matwali Maan and Krishi Vigyan Kendra. While the district administration maintains the nearly three-acre site is govt land, a group of farmers claims it has remained in their possession for decades and forms part of their ancestral agricultural holdings.According to police, Sudhakar, accompanied by RJD functionaries, farmers and supporters, reached the construction site on Friday and symbolically drove a tractor across the disputed land, bringing construction work to a halt. Police later intervened and brought the situation under control.East Champaran SP Swarn Prabhat said Piprakothi police had registered a case against Sudhakar, 27 named people and 30 unidentified people.Police alleged a large crowd entered the construction site, obstructed work, manhandled personnel engaged in the project and attempted to take possession of govt land by driving a tractor over it. The SP said CCTV footage from the site was being examined and legal action would be taken against others once they were identified.The dispute has intensified in recent weeks with farmers repeatedly protesting against the project. They claim they have possessed the land for nearly 70 years and that it was recorded in their names before the district administration cancelled the ‘jamabandi’ and declared it govt land.Motihari circle officer Sunil Kumar, however, said in a written statement that the land belonged to the Bihar govt and formed part of the Matwali waterbody as ‘gairmajarua’ land. He alleged some farmers had been influenced by vested interests to oppose the project.Sudhakar said, “This land was under possession of different farmers for the last 70 years and they had its jamabandi in their name. The govt is forcibly taking their land.”
