About 1,200 workers of lockout-declared Hatikhira tea garden in Karimganj district of south Assam are unlikely to get bonus before Durga Puja, which begins on Saturday.

Sources said the labourers may go on a hunger strike for lifting of the lockout and payment of bonus at the rate of 14 per cent as demanded by them.

The lockout was declared by the garden management on September 26 evening, after the labourers started agitating for payment of Puja bonus at the rate of 14 per cent against the authorities’ decision to pay 8.33 per cent.

The intervention of Barak Cha Shramik Union and the Tea Association of India failed to settle the matter.

The 100-year-old garden, 40km from Karimganj town, has 1,200 labourers and covers around 500 square metres. Its production has reduced to about 5 lakh kg annually from 15 lakh kg a few years ago.

The crisis in the garden deepened after the death of a worker on Tuesday night. Sources said Deoraj Karmakar, 45, died of heart attack. He is survived by his wife, three daughters and a son.

The labourers of the garden alleged that they were living in uncertainty because of non-payment of wages and bonus. They demanded the intervention of local Patherkandi MLA Krishnendu Paul for lifting of the lockout.

The union’s assistant general secretary, Dinanath Baroi, said they tried to settle the issue through a tripartite meeting but the garden authorities said they would not be able to attend it.

Sources said the assistant labour commissioner of Barak Valley, headquartered at Silchar, was also not available and is expected to join after the Pujas. The meeting, fixed for Monday, had to be cancelled.

A large number of policemen have been deployed in the garden. Tea workers in Assam have been demanding 20 per cent bonus while the Consultative Committee of Plantation Associations said they may not be able to pay more than the minimum 8.33 per cent stipulated under the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965.