Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday launched the process of handing over land rights to all 132 families of Chamakdangi and Laltong, who used to live in two forest villages on the left bank of the Teesta river, on the outskirts of Jalpaiguri.

The families have been shifted to another location because of the acute erosion of the Teesta’s banks.

At the public service distribution programme held near Uttarkanya here on Tuesday, Mamata handed over the land document to Laxmi Lepcha, one of the villagers.

The rest of the families also got their documents from the Dabgram 1 gram panchayat office in Salugara near Siliguri. The villages and Majhua, the new location, are in the Rajganj block of Jalpaiguri district.

“Let the new location be named as Teesta Pally,” Mamata said in her speech.

On May 17, The Telegraph had reported the rehabilitation of the villagers who had been facing erosion and flooding by the Teesta during the past few years.

“We are happy that we got the land rights of our plots. Now, each of us will have our own houses,” Champey Mukhia, who used to stay in Chamakdangi, said.

Altogether, around 500 people lived in the two villages. Because of the erosion and floods, they had approached the Jalpaiguri district administration and Siliguri mayor Gautam Deb.

Deb, in turn, apprised Mamata of the issue. The chief minister then decided to relocate the villagers.

Arati Roy, the chief of Dabgram 1, and Abhiram Saibo, the deputy chief, were present in the rural body’s office to hand over the land documents to the families.

“Each family will now become eligible to get assistance under the Bangla Awas Yojna (the state’s housing scheme). They will get ₹1.20 lakh each to construct their houses,” said Saibo.