Assam: Assam Chief Minister on Friday said that the ongoing survey and eviction drives across the state aim to free forest land from illegal encroachment. He stated that all Deputy Commissioners have been instructed to clear forest areas of encroachers while ensuring that indigenous tribal communities are allowed to stay under provisions of the Forest Act, as they are the original inhabitants.
The CM noted that although several eviction drives have already been carried out, removing all encroachers will take a minimum of 10 years due to the large number of illegal immigrants who have occupied forest land in different districts.
He reiterated the government’s commitment to restoring forest areas and protecting the rights of indigenous people while continuing the crackdown on illegal settlers.
Earlier, the Golaghat district administration on Monday launched Assam’s largest-ever eviction drive in the Rengma forest area located along the Assam-Nagaland border in Uriamghat.
For the operation, over 2,000 Assam Police personnel and around 500 forest guards have been deployed in the area. More than 100 excavators and Pokland machines have been kept ready for the drive. The move cleared 11,000 bighas (approximately 3,600 acres) of land in the Rengma Reserve forest at Uriamghat, bordering Nagaland. The eviction drive will affect nearly 2,000 families who have allegedly encroached on the forest land and turned it into a betel nut plantation linked with the betel mafia.
According to officials, the administration will demolish a total of 2,648 illegal houses constructed in 12 suspected villages within the Rengma forest area. The eAviction drive will cover localities such as Sonaribil Top, 2 No. Pithaghat, 2 No. Dayalpur, 3 No. Dayalpur, Dalanpathar, Kherbari, Vidyapur, Vidyapur Bazaar, 2 No. Madhupur, Anandpur, Rajapukhuri and Gelajan.
