Eviction drive launched to clear encroachment on 105 acres of govt land in Assam

Guwahati, Dec 16 (PTI) An eviction drive to clear encroachment on 105.18 acres of government land has been launched in Assam's Nagaon district on Tuesday, officials said.

The drive has been initiated at Salnabori, Tuktuki, Bherberi beel, Ahom Gaon, Roumari beel, Moiradhaj Katahguri and Akarabari and Magurmari beel under the Dhing Revenue circle, as ponds were dug illegally for fisheries on encroached land, they said.

More than 250 security personnel have been deployed for the eviction exercise, they said.

The drive was aimed at destroying unauthorised embankments and 565 ponds constructed across natural streams and wetlands, which block the free flow of water to the natural water bodies in the area, leading to flooding and damage to rural roads.

Due to the encroachments along the water bodies, where some people had started fisheries illegally, the local population from about 15 revenue villages have been severely affected by "artificial floods" for the past several years, said Nagaon District Commissioner Devashis Sarma, who visited the eviction sites during the day.

About 200 families, which have been managing the illegal ponds used for fisheries, have already left the area, as they own residences in other parts of the district, another official said.

Initially, bulldozers could not be deployed in the encroached sites due to the narrow and marshy terrain, and more than 100 labourers were engaged to dismantle the embankments using hoes and shovels, they said.

Later, bulldozers and other heavy equipment were pressed into service.

Sarma said that the clearing of encroachments will continue till December 19, and if required, it will be further extended to ensure that the entire area is clear and the residents of local villages do not suffer from artificial flooding.

This is the second eviction in the district within less than a month as a two-day drive was launched on November 29 to clear encroachment on 795 hectares of reserved forest land in Lutimari area, affecting over 1500 families.

Eviction drives have been launched again in the state since June 16 this year, and over 5,000 families have been affected in the ongoing exercises across the state.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that eviction would continue in the state as the government is "committed to free encroached land".

He claimed that over 160 sq km of land had been cleared of encroachment since his government took over in May 2021, affecting more than 50,000 people.

The chief minister had earlier said that all unauthorised occupation of forest land, VGR (Village Grazing Reserve), PGR (Professional Grazing Reserve), 'satras', 'namghars', and other public areas would be cleared in a phased manner.

Most of the people displaced due to the eviction drives are from the Bengali-speaking Muslims, who claim that their ancestors had moved and settled in the areas where drives were carried out after their land parcels in the ‘char’ were washed away due to erosion of the Brahmaputra river. PTI DG DG BDC