Guwahati, Dec 26: As part of the intensified campaign to clear ‘encroached’ government land in Assam, the Barpeta district administration conducted an eviction drive at Satra Kanara village under Baghbor constituency in the lower Assam district on Monday.
Sources said the drive was carried out to evict 30 families who were ‘illegally occupying’ around 400 bighas of land, staying there and also carrying out farming activities there, even as 15 other families had vacated the area on Sunday, upon prior intimation.
“The 400-bigha land in Satra Kanara village (under Baghbor revenue circle) was allotted by the government to the Bodo Krishak Samabai Samiti back in 1992. Subsequently, the land was occupied illegally by these families and we had served several notices asking them to vacate the land. However, they did not pay any heed until yesterday when some families had voluntarily left the area,” an official said.
Notably, the district administration had intimated the families residing there in the form of notices, the latest being a week back, before conducting the eviction drive with the help of bull-dozers and excavators amid tight security.
“As many as three public notices, apart from individual notices, were earlier served on the families as the names of the people illegally occupying the land for farming activities were not known. Their mode of operation was to illegally occupy several bighas of land and lease the land out for farming activities in lieu of money,” said another official.
Security personnel, including a team of Assam police and CRPF personnel, have been deployed in the area as a precautionary drill.
Meanwhile, Barpeta police detained suspended Congress MLA from Baghbor constituency, Sherman Ali Ahmed, for obstructing the eviction drive at Satra Kanara village.
Ahmed had reportedly staged a sit-in protest, holding placards during the eviction drive. Despite repeated requests by the officials, the legislator refused to listen and continued with his demonstration, prompting the police to eventually detain him.
Condemning the eviction drive, Ahmed termed the move as ‘unconstitutional and inhuman’, saying that the primary responsibility of the government was to safeguard the rights of the people.
“These people should have been rehabilitated before they were rendered landless. If there are any middlemen involved, the authorities should take action against them and not against these families,” the Baghbor MLA said, while demanding that the drive be immediately stopped.
It may be recalled that the district and police administration of central Assam’s Nagaon district had a week back launched a massive drive to clear 985 bighas of ‘encroached’ government land in the Santijan Bazar area and four villages in Batadrava mouza under Dhing revenue circle.
The decision to conduct a series of eviction drives was taken after the Commission for Review and Assessment of Problems of Satra Lands in Assam’ had, earlier this month, submitted its interim report to the state government, revealing that satra land, measuring 1898.04 hectares in 11 districts of Assam, are currently under encroachment.
During the winter session of the Assam Assembly last Wednesday, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had asserted that the eviction drive to clear government and forest land in the state would continue as per law and in accordance with the court’s directive.