Squatters on a one-hectare plot earmarked to build a bus terminus and a shopping complex at Chamurchi, one of the three points to enter Bhutan from Bengal, demonstrated under Trinamul’s banner on Sunday, vowing not to move away and demanding that authorities select a new site for the project.

Chamurchi is in the Dhupguri block of Jalpaiguri district. The project is considered important to improve bilateral relations between India and Bhutan.

When a team of government surveyors had been to the site to measure the plot on Friday, the encroachers had aired protests. On Sunday, they held a day-long demonstration with Trinamul flags and asserted that they were not ready to part with the land.

Shilpa Gourisaria, the Jalpaiguri district magistrate, had said the administration would take back the one-hectare land that had been provided to the management of Chamurchi tea estate on lease.

“Several families had settled on the land as the plot was not used for tea cultivation. Some local Trinamul leaders are supporting them in the protest. It has become a tough task for the administration to clear the land and start the project,” said a Chamurchi resident.

The demonstrators numbered around 100 people, including women and children. “We have been living here for several years. If we are evicted, we would be homeless. The administration should select some other site for the project,’ said Shrimati Pradhan, one of the protesters.

Asked about the demonstration, the DM said: Preliminary works like survey have been put on hold. We are exploring ways to resolve the problem.”