Assam: Assam and Nagaland recently reached an understanding to coordinate all future activities in the Disputed Area Belt (DAB) jointly, following high-level talks between Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. A statement from the Nagaland Chief Secretary’s office said eviction drives, plantation work, and developmental activities in the DAB would henceforth be carried out in coordination to avoid escalation, aiming to keep the zone peaceful after earlier unilateral moves by Assam triggered fresh frictions.
The DAB, spanning several sectors of the 512-km Assam–Nagaland boundary, has long been a flashpoint, with rival land claims often sparking clashes and instability. Both governments now project the new understanding as a reaffirmation of their commitment to peace, stability, and mutual trust in the border region.
Tensions rose after the Golaghat district administration launched Assam’s largest-ever eviction drive in the Rengma forest area at Uriamghat, along the interstate border. The operation deployed over 2,000 police personnel and 500 forest guards, with more than 100 excavators and Pokland machines clearing 11,000 bighas (about 3,600 acres) of land allegedly encroached upon and converted into betel nut plantations linked to the betel mafia. Authorities said 2,648 illegal houses across 12 suspected villages inside the reserve forest were demolished, affecting nearly 2,000 families.
According to officials, the eviction drive covered settlements 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. Assam Police IGP Akhilesh Kumar Singh said local cooperation had been forthcoming, noting that “no one wants construction in the forest lands.”
However, the drive alarmed Naga civil society groups across the border. The Ralan Area Lotha Hoho (RALH), representing villagers in Nagaland’s Wokha district, objected to Assam’s actions inside the Yanpha village jurisdiction. Citing a 1964 Nagaland government order affirming Yanpha’s authority, RALH warned that Assam’s plantation and fencing efforts were attempts to “gradually alter the boundary.” It urged Nagaland’s government to remove Assam police outposts, halt plantation drives, enforce the 1964 order, and deploy its own forces to safeguard territorial integrity. The group further cautioned that unchecked activities risked “serious law and order issues” and potential intercommunity conflict.
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, dismissing encroachment allegations, said the plantation was purely ecological. “There is no encroachment by the Naga people. In fact, Rio will join hands with us for the plantation drive. We aim to plant saplings in 12,000 bighas of land at Rengma. This is going to be a significant step from an ecological point of view,” he said. Assam’s government has ramped up eviction efforts in recent years. Sarma claimed that 1.29 lakh bighas (over 42,500 acres) have been cleared of encroachment in four years, with around 29 lakh bighas (9.5 lakh acres) still illegally occupied. He compared the cleared land to the size of Chandigarh, noting that over 1,200 hectares had been freed, and records accessed show 12,003 hectares have been reclaimed in total.
Eviction drives in Assam have often turned violent. Earlier, one person was killed and another critically injured after clashes during an eviction in Goalpara’s Paikan Reserve Forest, where settlers armed with sticks and stones confronted security personnel. Police retaliated, leaving several officers injured. The Goalpara operation sought to clear nearly 140 hectares of forest land, part of a 711-hectare reserve.
The Rengma drive, with its border implications, has now become more than an anti-encroachment campaign—testing the fragile peace between Assam and Nagaland and drawing sharp resistance from Naga bodies determined to defend what they see as ancestral land.
