The first phase of a massive eviction drive to clear alleged encroachments from almost 11,000 bighas of forest land in Assam's Golaghat district concluded on Wednesday
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GOLAGHAT (ASSAM) — The first phase of a massive eviction drive to clear alleged encroachments from almost 11,000 bighas (nearly 1,500 hectares) of forest land in Assam's Golaghat district concluded on Wednesday, officials said.
The five-day eviction drive has displaced around 1,500 families, mostly from the Muslim community, they added.
The exercise to clear the alleged encroached land within Rengma Reserve Forest in Uriamghat along the Assam-Nagaland border in Sarupathar sub-division started on Tuesday.
Although the government has claimed that the area was encroached, senior officials acknowledged that there were houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G), water connection under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), government schools under Sarba Siksha Abhiyan (SSA), sub-health centre under National Health Mission (NHM) and electricity connections to almost every household, besides markets, mosques, madrassas and churches.
Addressing a press conference at Sarupathar, Special Chief Secretary (Forest) M K Yadava said: "The ongoing operation has so far cleared approximately 8,900 bighas (nearly 1,200 hectares) of protected forest land and dismantled over 4,000 unauthorised structures."
He added that land survey teams are actively working in multiple areas to assess the extent of remaining encroachments in preparation for the second phase.
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"Notably, 205 households in Negheribil area under Merapani, located within Doyang Reserve Forest, have been served eviction notices. The drive there is scheduled to commence from August 8," Yadava said.
A district administration official claimed that around 10,500 to 11,000 bighas were encroached upon by the people.
"Around 2,000 families are living in those areas. Out of them, eviction notices were served to about 1,500 families. The remaining families are forest dwellers and have certificates from the Forest Rights Committee (FRC)," he added.
Families whose houses were demolished belonged to the Muslim community, while those having FRC certificates are Bodos, Nepalis, Manipuris and other communities, the official added.
An official release said over the course of past five days, vast stretches of encroached forest land in Rengma have been reclaimed with illegal structures dismantled across key high-density zones, including Bidyapur, Pithaghat, Sonaribeel, Doyalpur, Dolonipathar, Kherbari, Anandapur and Madhupur.
"The first phase of the large-scale eviction drive in Rengma Reserve Forest concluded successfully today with final operations carried out seamlessly in Bidyapur and No.2 Madhupur. The day's activities remained peaceful and without resistance," it added.
Commenting on such drives, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in Udalguri said the government does not consider unauthorised occupation of public land by indigenous people as encroachment.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a BJP function, he said the government will continue its eviction drives against encroachments by suspected foreigners across the state.
"There are two types of encroachments. If indigenous people are living (unauthorisedly), then we don't consider it as encroachment. Those who have come from Bangladesh, we consider only those cases as encroachments.
"The places where foreigners and doubtful citizens are living, we will carry out evictions there. That's our goal and we are proceeding accordingly," the CM stressed.
The local BJP MLA from Sarupathar, Biswajit Phukan, said an eviction drive will continue on Sunday in parts of the Nambor South Reserve Forest, particularly in Gelajan and No. 3 Rajapukhuri.
He highlighted the potential of Rengma Reserve Forest as a future eco-tourism destination and emphasized that such drives are essential to curb "illegal activities", and ensure long-term ecological and administrative benefits for Assam.
The operation was led by the forest department with active support from the Golaghat District Administration and Assam Police in close coordination with the Government of Nagaland and the Nagaland Police.
To ensure smooth and peaceful execution of the operation, an extensive security arrangement was put in place with the involvement of CRPF.
Speaking to PTI, the affected families had earlier questioned the rationale of the eviction drive and claimed that they were brought to this location by the previous governments to protect the area from invasion of Nagaland.
They claimed that most of the alleged encroachers were settled in the forest by the Janata Party government, headed by ex-CM Golap Borbora, in 1978-79 and the first AGP government, which came to power in 1985.
All the government schools in the alleged encroached area were converted into forest camps before the start of the eviction drive.
Notably, the Assam Legislative Assembly was informed in March that nearly 83,000 hectares of the state's land are currently under occupation by four neighbouring states, with Nagaland accounting for the largest share — approximately 59,490.21 hectares.