GUWAHATI, Dec 20: As part of its intensified campaign against illegal settlements, the Assam government on Monday conducted a drive to evict over 100 families who have encroached government land at Lahorijan under Bokajan sub-division along the Assam-Nagaland border.
The eviction drive was jointly carried out at Dudu Colony by the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council along with the district administration, forest department and CRPF.
The Karbi Anglong district administration had imposed Section 144 CrPC in the areas of Lahorijan block number three under Borjan mouza of Bokajan sub-division to maintain peace during the eviction.
Official sources said that according to initial assessment there were about 3000 families residing in the locality illegally. “However, many families had, upon receiving notices earlier, left the locality before the drive was carried out,” an official said.
Sources further said that about 150 families would be evicted during the drive. “We have divided the eviction team into four parties to carry out the drive,” the official said.
Meanwhile, shops and business establishments within 700 metres radius of Dudu Colony remained closed during the eviction drive.
It may be mentioned that 106 families have been encroaching government land and the families will be evicted today. Meanwhile, most of the families have reportedly left the place before the drive has been carried out.
Speaking to reporters on the Assembly premises here on Monday, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the eviction drive in the locality in Lahorijan would also help eliminate illegal drug trade as the area has been a drug trafficking hotspot.
Sarma further said that Lumding reserve forest, where an eviction drive was recently conducted and a section cleared from illegal encroachment, would be free from man-elephant conflicts over the next six months.
“We can now see wild elephants roaming around in spaces which were earlier occupied by people inside Lumding reserve forest. So, elephants have now found their habitats and hence are less likely to come in conflict with humans. In the next six months, such conflicts will not be there in the reserve forest,” the chief minister said.