Assam:Major portion of Pabha forest freed from incursion
‘Encroachment Clearance’ of Sonitpur shelters to start by Assam Govt
GUWAHATI: The Assam government has cleared encroachments from about 90 percent of the Pabha Reserve Forest in Lakhimpur district, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
The administration launched an eviction drive on January 10 to end encroachments that lasted several days, evicting around 500 “illegal settler” families.
“Our commitment to protect our natural resources is sacrosanct. It is a pleasure to inform that after 5 days of eviction exercise, 4,163 hectares (32,000 bighas) of Pabha Reserve Forest has been freed from encroachment,” Sarma said in a tweet.
He added that the total area of reserve forest is estimated to be 4,625.85 hectares.
The Chief Minister also appreciated the efforts of the administration to protect the forests of Assam.
The Assam government launched an eviction drive to clear 450 hectares of forest land from encroachments, where people allegedly built housing units for about 500 families of encroachers, mostly Bengali-speaking Muslims. were
Apart from these encroachment sites, a large area of agricultural land allegedly occupied by villagers in Pabha was also cleared.
According to Lakhimpur Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Ashok Kumar Dev Choudhury, of the original 46 sq km of Pabha Reserve Forest in 1941, only 0.32 sq km was free from encroachment and the rest before evictions began. were occupied.
A total of 701 families have occupied the land of Pabha Reserve Forest during the last three decades.
The Himanta Biswa Sarma-led dispensation has been running an eviction drive to end encroachments in various parts of the state since assuming power in May 2021.
Brushing aside criticism from the opposition, Sarma had told the Assembly on December 21 that the drive to end encroachment of government and forest land in Assam would continue as long as the BJP was in power.
