Lakhimpur:On ejection drive eve, many unlawful tenants vacate forest

Lakhimpur (Assam): As the administration completes preparations for an ejection drive to vacate 500 hectares of forest land in Assam’s Lakhimpur district, scores of “unlawful tenants” were seen carrying their belongings on Monday was seen.

Some families were seen loading their belongings onto trucks, while others were leaving on their bicycles. Children were also seen carrying bundles on their heads as they walked out with their parents.

The campaign to clear 501 hectares of Pava reserve forest in the first phase in Adhasona and Mohaghuli villages will be launched on Tuesday. Most of those affected were Bengali Muslims, often referred to as ‘Mian’.
Of the 2,560.25 hectares of protected forest, only 29 hectares are currently free from encroachment, officials said.

Residents and leaders claim that they were given land title deeds earlier.

However, these documents were rejected by the current BJP-led government in Assam, he claimed.

“People from these areas have been living here for decades. Houses were built under the PMAY scheme, Anganwadi centers were built by the state, electricity connections and roads were built under the MGNREGA programme,” All Assam Minority Students Union said. (AAMSU) Lakhimpur district secretary Anwarul claimed.

He questioned how these people are being given government schemes if they are living illegally in the area.
A local claimed that the state government had given them ownership of the land in the early decades.

“When we presented it to this government, they rejected it. Now where do we go?” He thought.

The villagers also alleged that the demarcation pillars of the Pava reserve forest have been changed several times, especially since 2017, and claimed “arbitrary demarcation” of the demarcation before the eviction drive  was going.
However, residents have been moving out of the area for the past few days and several families were seen moving their belongings even on Monday.

“We once again appeal to all illegal settlers to leave. Once the diggers are brought into action tomorrow, nothing will be spared,” a police officer on duty said. Emphasized the villagers.
Another official said that the area to be cleared has been divided into four blocks and the operation will begin simultaneously at all locations on Tuesday morning.

“Our senior officers have briefed the personnel here. We do not expect much resistance. We are prepared for any scenario,” he said.

Lakhimpur Superintendent of Police Bedanta Madhab Rajkhowa said that 600 personnel of state police and CRPF have been deployed for the exercise. Mock drills and long marches have been conducted in the area.
Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Ashok Kumar Dev Choudhury said that 701 families have encroached on Pava protected forest land during the last three decades.

The illegal settlers include people from different parts of the state and local people displaced by floods and erosion.

Deputy Commissioner of the district Sumit Sattawan said that people living in the encroached areas were informed by the forest department and the local administration to vacate the area two years ago.
In July last year, 84 families submitted documents claiming ownership of land, but on scrutiny, these were found to be fake.

He said that on September 7, the Circle Officer of Naoboicha personally contacted the encroachers and asked them to leave voluntarily.

The campaign was supposed to be launched in September but was postponed due to floods.

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 last month.