‘Encroachment Clearance’ of Sonitpur shelters to start by Assam Govt

Tezpur: The Assam government on Tuesday launched an eviction drive to clear “encroachments” in the Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuary in Sonitpur district.

Sonitpur Deputy Commissioner Deba Kumar Mishra claimed that “thousands of people have been illegally occupying the forest area for decades” and that the administration was “clearing encroachments from 1,892 hectares of land” during the ongoing exercise. What is the decision?
“As per our records, 2,513 families were living in the encroached forest area and were issued eviction notices. Almost all of them left before the campaign began,” he claimed.
Around 100 bulldozers, excavators and tractors and teams of security personnel were deployed since morning to demolish the structures and clear the land, the DC said.

Once the exercise is over, the forest department will start a plantation drive on encroachment-free land.
Notably, the state government last month launched a drive to evict “illegal settlers” from forest land in Assam’s Lakhimpur district.

The All Assam Minority Students’ Union (AAMSU) termed the eviction drive as “inhumane and one-sided” and staged a brief protest in the district.
The Himanta Biswa Sarma-led dispensation has been conducting eviction drives in various parts of the state since assuming power in May 2021, with two such exercises conducted in December last year.
Brushing aside opposition criticism, Sarma had told the Assembly on December 21 last year that the eviction drive to end encroachment on government and forest land in Assam would continue as long as the BJP remained in power.