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Assam begins drive to raze over 2.6K encroachments
Assam begins drive to raze over 2.6K encroachments

Hindustan Times

time2 hours ago

  • Politics
  • Hindustan Times

Assam begins drive to raze over 2.6K encroachments

The Assam government on Tuesday launched a massive eviction drive in the Rengma forest area of Golaghat district bordering Nagaland to demolish over 2,600 alleged encroachments spread over 1,500 hectares of forest land, officials aware of the matter said. The move is set to affect at least 3,000 to 4,000 families. Assam begins drive to raze over 2.6K encroachments According to forest officials, a total of 2,648 illegal houses, spread across 12 villages within the reserve forest area, have been marked for eviction. 'On the first day, over 4.2 hectares of the encroached land, which included 50 concrete residential structures and nearly 200 small and medium-sized business establishments, was cleared,' an official said. The drive is being carried out in Sonaribil, Pithaghat, Dayalpur, Dalanpathar, Kherbari, Vidyapur, Vidyapur Bazaar, Madhupur, Anandpur, Rajapukhuri, and Gelajan localities — all Muslim dominated. According to the Golaghat district administration officials, over 2,000 Assam Police personnel, including battalions from different districts, along with 500 forest guards, have been deployed to maintain law and order during the eviction process. 'This is part of a series of eviction drives. In the past, we have faced challenges, including attacks on government officials,' chief forest conservator MK Yadava said. This is the third large-scale eviction drive in Assam since July 8. The first two were conducted in Dhubri and Goalpara, where over 2,000 allegedly illegally constructed houses were demolished. While the earlier phases witnessed protests from locals, no major protest has yet been reported in Uriamghat. A local resident said his family settled in the area in 1974. 'We have documents like Voter ID and Aadhaar. We have lived here for decades and faced attacks from tribal groups. But now the government is demolishing our houses. We have nowhere to go.' Another resident, Ali Kazi, told PTI: 'Where will we go from here? My father had come from Nagaon district around 40 years ago, but I was born here. We were brought here during the 1980s to protect the forest land from encroachment from Nagaland.'

Massive eviction drive launched in Assam's Golaghat; 15,000 people, mostly Muslims, affected
Massive eviction drive launched in Assam's Golaghat; 15,000 people, mostly Muslims, affected

New Indian Express

time14 hours ago

  • Politics
  • New Indian Express

Massive eviction drive launched in Assam's Golaghat; 15,000 people, mostly Muslims, affected

Contrary to government claims that the area was encroached, the demolished properties include houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G), water connection under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), government schools under Sarba Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) and electricity connections to almost every household, besides markets, mosques, madrassas and churches, according to locals. The affected families questioned the rationale of the eviction drive and claimed that they were brought to the place by the earlier governments to protect the area from the alleged invasion of Nagaland. "Where will we go from here? My father had come from Nagaon district around 40 years ago, but I was born here. We were brought here during the 1980s to protect the forest land from encroachment from Nagaland," said Ali Kazi, who also received an eviction notice. He claimed that most of the alleged encroachers' previous generation was settled in the forest area 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. Notably, the assembly was informed in March that almost 83,000 hectares of land belonging to Assam were being occupied by four neighbouring states. It was also stated that Nagaland captured the highest amount of land in Assam -- 59,490.21 hectares. Kazi claimed, "We have been cooperating with the authorities in this eviction drive. We requested them 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 food. It's very inhuman." Another eviction victim, Mamtaj Ali, asked, "If we were illegal settlers, how did we get electricity connections? Why did the government open schools and give us JJM connections? We were also given houses under PM Awas Yojana." 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 these 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 made before I came here," he added. There were mosques and madrassa for people belonging to the Muslim community, while churches were set up by the Bodo people, the official said. Meanwhile, the Niki Sumi faction of National Socialist Council of Nagaland viewed the eviction drive as a 'well-planned' move by the Assam government to grab the ancestral lands of the Nagas. The rebel group alleged that successive Assam governments encouraged the policy of settling 'illegal Bangladeshi immigrants' in the inter-state border areas with the alleged intention to grab the lands of the Nagas. The massive eviction drive followed Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's recent visit to Uriamghat. 'People of Assam are victims of the mass scale encroachment, demographic alteration and violence which is caused by illegal settlers. They are firmly behind our Govt in our crackdown against encroachment and realise the need to reclaim what's truly ours,' Sarma posted on X on July 29 Earlier this month, the Assam government had carried out major eviction drives in Lakhimpur, Goalpara and Dhubri districts which displaced thousands of Muslims. (With inputs from PTI)

Massive eviction drive underway in Assam's Golaghat; over 1500 Muslim families to be affected
Massive eviction drive underway in Assam's Golaghat; over 1500 Muslim families to be affected

New Indian Express

time18 hours ago

  • Politics
  • New Indian Express

Massive eviction drive underway in Assam's Golaghat; over 1500 Muslim families to be affected

"Where will we go from here? My father had come from Nagaon district around 40 years ago, but I was born here. We were brought here during the 1980s to protect the forest land from encroachment from Nagaland," said Ali Kazi, who also received an eviction notice. He claimed that most of the alleged encroachers' previous generation was settled in the forest area 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. Notably, the assembly was informed in March that almost 83,000 hectares of land belonging to Assam were being occupied by four neighbouring states. It was also stated that Nagaland captured the highest amount of land in Assam -- 59,490.21 hectares. Kazi claimed, "We have been cooperating with the authorities in this eviction drive. We requested them 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 food. It's very inhuman." Another eviction victim, Mamtaj Ali, asked, "If we were illegal settlers, how did we get electricity connections? Why did the government open schools and give us JJM connections? We were also given houses under PM Awas Yojana." 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 these 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 made before I came here," he added. There were mosques and madrassa for people belonging to 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 divided the entire area into nine zones and conducted a survey accordingly, he added. "An extensive land survey of around 30 villages of the Rengma Reserve Forest was done.

Eviction underway to clear encroachment on 3,600 acres of forest land in Assam's Golaghat
Eviction underway to clear encroachment on 3,600 acres of forest land in Assam's Golaghat

The Hindu

time20 hours ago

  • Politics
  • The Hindu

Eviction underway to clear encroachment on 3,600 acres of forest land in Assam's Golaghat

A massive eviction drive is underway to clear alleged encroachment on over 3,600 acres of forest land in Assam's Golaghat district, officials said on Tuesday (July 29, 2025). The move by the state government will affect at least 1,500 families, they said. Several senior officials of the Golaghat district administration and the forest department told PTI that the eviction drive started in the morning to clear the alleged encroachment on almost 11,000 bighas (over 3,600 acres) of land in the Rengma Reserve Forest in Uriamghat along the Assam-Nagaland border in Sarupathar sub-division. Although the government has claimed that the area was encroached, 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) and electricity connections to almost every household, besides markets, mosques, madrassas and churches, the locals claimed. "The eviction started from the main market in the Bidyapur area. We will gradually proceed to residential areas and demolish the illegal housing structures," an official said. He claimed that around 10,500 bighas to 11,000 bighas of land were encroached upon by the people. "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)," the official said. 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, he added. "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," the official added. While speaking to PTI, the affected families, however, questioned the rationale of the eviction drive and claimed that they were brought to the place by the earlier governments to protect the area from the alleged invasion of Nagaland. "Where will we go from here? My father had come from Nagaon district around 40 years ago, but I was born here. We were brought here during the 1980s to protect the forest land from encroachment from Nagaland," said Ali Kazi, who also received an eviction notice. He claimed that most of the alleged encroachers' previous generation was settled in the forest area 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. Notably, the assembly was informed in March that almost 83,000 hectares of land belonging to Assam were being occupied by four neighbouring states. It was also stated that Nagaland captured the highest amount of land in Assam — 59,490.21 hectares. Mr. Kazi claimed, "We have been cooperating with the authorities in this eviction drive. We requested them 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 food. It's very inhuman." Another eviction victim, Mamtaj Ali, asked, "If we were illegal settlers, how did we get electricity connections? Why did the government open schools and give us JJM connections? We were also given houses under PM Awas Yojana." 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 these 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 made before I came here," he added. There were mosques and madrassa for people belonging to 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 divided the entire area into nine zones and conducted a survey accordingly, he added. "An extensive land survey of around 30 villages of the Rengma Reserve Forest was done. It is found that several thousand bighas of forest land have been converted into agricultural land by the suspected encroachers in 12 villages," another official said. A district administration official said that proper notices were served by the forest department to the encroachers, giving them seven days to vacate the place. He said that many of the suspected encroachers are reportedly from Nagaon, Morigaon and Sonitpur districts. The Assam Police have stationed a senior official from the headquarters in Golaghat to oversee the law and order situation during the eviction drive. "There are enough security personnel deployed, and we are fully prepared. Apart from our personnel, we have taken support from CRPF for the eviction exercise," he told PTI without sharing further details. In the meantime, the Nagaland government 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 eviction drive. On July 25, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma visited Uriamghat to inspect the areas that have been encroached upon and for which the state government had already issued eviction notices. He said those who had settled on these land parcels came from various districts in Assam, such as Cachar, Sribhumi, Dhubri, Barpeta, Hojai, Nagaon and Morigaon, as well as from other states, including West Bengal and Bihar.

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