Eviction drive under way for second day in Assam to clear encroachment on 1,500 hectares of forest land

The Hindu

30-07-2025

'A massive eviction drive to clear alleged encroachment on nearly 1,500 hectares of forest land in Assam's Golaghat district continued for the second day on Wednesday (July 30, 2025),' officials said.
'The exercise, once completed, will displace around 1,500 families, mostly from the Muslim community,' they added.
The eviction drive started on Tuesday (July 29, 2025) to uproot illegal settlements on almost 11,000 bighas (nearly 1,500 hectares) of land in the Rengma Reserve Forest in Uriamghat along the Assam-Nagaland border in Sarupathar sub-division.
Assam begins eviction drive to clear encroached forest land on Nagaland boundary
"Today, the eviction drive started at Sonari Beel and Pithaghat area from around 9 a.m. So far, everything is progressing as per plans and peacefully," a district administration official told PTI.
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) and water connection under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).
They also admitted that there were 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.
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On Tuesday (July 29, 2025), the major eviction drive started from the main market area in the Bidyapur area, followed by residential locations. 'During the drive, around 120 'illegal' commercial structures spread over approximately 4.2 hectares of forest land were demolished,' the official said.
The operation was led by the Forest Department with active support from the Golaghat district administration and the 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, including the deployment of CRPF personnel, was put in place. The district official claimed that around 10,500 bighas to 11,000 bighas of land were encroached upon by the people.
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"Around 2,000 families are living in those areas. Out of them, notices were served to about 1,500 families, who illegally settled here. The remaining families are forest dwellers and have certificates from the Forest Rights Committee (FRC)," he added.
'The families whose houses are being demolished belong to the Muslim community, while those having FRC certificates are from Bodo, Nepali, Manipuri and other communities,' the official said.
"Around 80% of the families who had received notices have already vacated their illegal settlements in the last few days. We are only demolishing their homes," he added.
While speaking to PTI, the affected families, however, questioned the rationale of the eviction drive and claimed that they were brought to this location by the earlier governments to protect the area from the alleged invasion of Nagaland.
Notably, the Assembly was informed in March that almost 83,000 hectares of land belonging to Assam were being occupied by four neighbouring states, and Nagaland captured the highest amount of land in Assam — 59,490.21 hectares.
They claimed that most of the alleged encroachers' previous generation was settled in the forest by the Janata Party government, headed by ex-CM Golap Borbora, in 1978-79 and the first Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) government, which came to power in 1985.
The government-run Bidyapur Lower Primary School was established in 1978, according to the sign board on the school building. This supports the public claim that many people were living in the area from around 1975.
All the government schools in the alleged encroached area have been converted into forest camps before the start of the eviction drive. Ali Kazi, an evicted person, told PTI that they have been cooperating with the authorities in this drive.
"We only requested the government to settle us somewhere else, but they refused. We now have no option but to stay under tents. We are not even given drinking water; forget about any food. It's very inhuman," he added.
The encroached area, as claimed by the government, was provided with electricity, schools, JJM water connections, health centres and houses under PM Awas Yojana, among other benefits from the State.
When asked about these government infrastructure, a senior official of the Forest Department accepted that such facilities were provided by the authorities and some of the installations were made even after 2016 when the BJP came to power for the first time in Assam.
'I do not know why these were sanctioned and established in this area. These were set up before I came here. There were also mosques and madrassas among the Muslim community, while churches were set up by the Bodo people,' the official said.
'For carrying out the eviction drive across 12 villages, the authorities have divided the entire area into nine zones and are doing the survey accordingly,' he added. A district administration official said that proper notices were served by the Forest Department to the alleged encroachers, giving them seven days to vacate the place.
The Assam Police stationed a senior official from its headquarters in Golaghat to oversee the law and order situation in the course of the eviction drive. Nagaland also issued an advisory to the bordering districts to keep a strict vigil so that displaced people cannot cross into the State in the event of the proposed eviction drive.