HC directs Northeast states clear forest encroachments irrespective of border disputes

DIMAPUR — The Gauhati High Court has called on the northeastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Mizoram to jointly frame a plan to clear forest encroachments, stating that “forest areas must be free of all encroachments” regardless of pending border disputes or ongoing litigation in the Supreme Court.

The directive came during a hearing on two public interest litigations (PILs) seeking removal of illegal settlements from forest lands in Assam.

In its order issued on July 29, the Bench of Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar and Justice Arun Dev Choudhury stated that the states were “ad idem on the issue of the importance of clearance of the forest area of all encroachments” and had taken part in several rounds of discussions to come to a consensus.

Noting that “none of the states are raising any issue pertaining to border disputes” in the present proceedings, it said the primary concern now was to ensure “that the forest area under their respective jurisdictions is made free of encroachments” in line with earlier directions from the Supreme Court.

“Border disputes would be resolved, but before that, what is of utmost importance is that the forest area falling under the territorial jurisdiction of the states ought to be free of all encroachments,” it said, adding that this exercise is necessary in order to mitigate biotic pressure on forest areas.

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The court acknowledged that there are “some issues which are plaguing complete implementation of this mission,” including litigations pending before the Supreme Court and “some other contentious issues with respect to the occupation of the people in the inner-line forest area.” It, however, held that dialogue among the states was a positive step.

“Convene a high-level meeting of the chief secretaries and chiefs of forest departments of each of the states as well as other relevant stakeholders for formulating a comprehensive plan for making the forest area encroachment-free,” the court order stated.

The court said it expects to be informed of a resolution, which may be passed in that meeting, and its effective implementation on the ground.

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The four states have been directed to file affidavits before the next hearing on November 4.

It may be noted that the Assam government, in coordination with the government of Nagaland, began a massive eviction drive to free around 11,000 bighas of forest lands from alleged encroachers at Uriamghat in the Golaghat district on Tuesday.

Read here: Eviction drive carried out in disputed Nagaland-Assam border area

The operation focused on Bidyapur and Kherbari (Liphanyan village) and Madhupur (Tchujanphen village), all of which fall under Section-C of the Disputed Area Belt (DAB) between the two states.

According to The Assam Tribune, the eviction operation resumed in full force on Wednesday in the Uriamghat region, with bulldozers rolling into Sonari Beel and Pithaghat to demolish what authorities describe as “decades-old illegal encroachments.”