People from Bihar among land encroachers in Assam, will verify their claims: Himanta

Guwahati, Jul 25 (PTI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday that people claiming to be from states like Bihar are among encroachers of government, forest and other land in the northeastern state.

He said his government will share details of these people with local authorities from where they claim to have come, so that it can be verified that they are not actually from "across the border".

Talking to reporters after inspecting sites for eviction drives in Uriamghat in Golaghat district, Sarma said, "When we went through the list of encroachers, we found that these people are not just from Assam. There are people from districts like Cachar, Sribhumi, Dhubri, Hojai, Nagaon, Morigaon, but there are people even from Bihar." "They have said that they are from Bihar, but they could be from across the border," he added.

The CM said names, addresses and other details will be taken from them, and shared with the authorities of the place they claim to have come from.

"If they are genuine people from those parts, we have nothing against them. But if they are not permanent residents there, the local authorities can take steps," he said.

He said encroachers in Uriamghat were in possession of hundreds of bighas of forest land.

"Government cannot be a mute spectator and we have to take necessary action. We seek cooperation from the people," he said.

Sarma said locals have told him that illegal activities like drug use and thefts were rampant in the encroached areas and a "lot of negative things were happening".

"Now, all can work together to make it an area with positive vibes. Local youths can engage in business by utilising the resources after the land is cleared," Sarma said.

He said most of the encroachers have already left the place, and the remaining will also do so before the anti-eviction drive is launched as per law.

Besides, in Uriamghat, notices for eviction have been served in the Negribil area, he added.

Asked about cooperation from Nagaland, which borders Uriamghat area, Sarma said, "The only concern for them is that the evicted people should not enter their state. Whenever I have requested them, they have always helped us." He said just as the government is working to clear all encroached land, people should be vigilant to ensure that no new areas are illegally grabbed.

"All Satra (Vaishnavite monastry) land, grazing land will be cleared in a phased manner. We also don’t want to give the impression that only evictions are happening here. Otherwise, the court will also think about what is happening.

"That’s why we are working in a planned and phased manner," he said.

The chief minister had said earlier that 1.29 lakh bighas (nearly 43,000 acres) have been cleared of encroachment in the last four years, and around 29 lakh bighas (almost 10 lakh acres) of land are still under encroachment in the state.

He had also claimed that these lands were under encroachment of "illegal Bangladeshis and doubtful citizens", with the state government under "international pressure" to stop eviction drives after the operation at Gorukhuti in Darrang district. PTI SSG SSG SOM