Assam govt starts eviction drive to clear encroachment on 3,600 acres of forest land in Golaghat

Golaghat: The Assam government on Tuesday began a massive eviction drive to clear alleged encroachment on over 3,600 acres of forest land in Golaghat district, officials said.

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 of Rengma Reserve Forest in Uriamghat along the Assam-Nagaland border in Sarupathar sub-division.

"The eviction drive 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 and other communities, locals claimed.

"Around 80 per cent 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.