HT DIGITAL
GUWAHATI, JULY 29: As part of a grand anti-encroachment drive, the Assam government has started a massive eviction campaign to regain more than 3,600 acres of forestland in the Rengma Reserve Forest, which is located in the sensitive Uriamghat area of Sarupathar sub-division on the Assam–Nagaland border. The authorities have called this the biggest-ever eviction operation in the state.
The drive, conducted by the forest department and district administration of Golaghat, focuses on evicting almost 11,000 bighas of encroached forest land that had purportedly been taken over by nearly 1,500 families. The families had earlier received eviction notices, confirmed officials. The land has been encroached for decades, which raised questions about ecological degradation and loss of forests.
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The eviction operation started early Tuesday in the main market zone of Vidyapur under strict security. The operation will spread to residential areas, aiming to evacuate a total of 2,648 illegal buildings in 12 villages, such as Sonaribil Top, No. 2 Pithaghat, No. 2 & No. 3 Dayalpur, Dalanpathar, Kherbari, Vidyapur, Vidyapur Bazar, No. 2 Madhupur, Anandpur, Rajapukhuri, and Gelajan.
Around 2,000 families used to live in the region, of which approximately 1,500 were declared illegal settlers, and the remaining families have valid Forest Rights Committee (FRC) certificates that legally establish them as forest dwellers. “The eviction is only against those with no legitimate land rights. Action is being taken on the basis of confirmed legal documents,” clarified the official.
In order to enable the operation to be carried out smoothly, more than 2,000 Assam Police men and 500 forest personnel have been deployed. Moreover, over 100 heavy machinery like Pokeland and excavators have been called in to carry out demolition work. Troops and machinery have been summoned from nearby districts like Golaghat, Merapani, Sivasagar, and Tinsukia. Senior officers such as Additional SPs, DSPs, and Assistant Commissioners have been posted at the spot to monitor and coordinate the multi-day operation.
Authorities emphasized that the campaign is being undertaken according to legal processes and with the aim of maintaining the ecological integrity of the Rengma Reserve Forest, which has been under threat for years because of lengthy human encroachment.
There have been reports that the majority of those evicted are Muslim while the holders of FRC certificates are predominantly Bodo, Nepali, and other indigenous groups. The reports, however, have not been confirmed by the authorities, who assert that they are conducting the operation with no bias, purely on grounds of legal status and documentation.
District authorities also told that almost 80% of the families for which eviction notices were issued have voluntarily left their homes in the past few days. “We are presently demolishing vacant buildings only,” said a senior official, underlining that no force is being applied against families who have already left.”.
The eviction has attracted both praise and dismay around the region, as the state pushes ahead in its efforts to balance conservation of the environment and humanitarian concern along one of its most delicate inter-state frontiers.
