GUWAHATI, Sept 24: The Assam government on Tuesday resumed the eviction drive at Kochutoli in Sonapur near here to evict illegal settlers from myadi patta land in the tribal belt amidst heavy deployment of police personnel in the area.
The fresh round of eviction comes after the first round earlier this month turned violent on the third day, leaving two dead and several injured, including residents, police personnel and district officials. Police personnel had to open fire after a section of residents attacked them and the district officials with stones, sticks and sharp weapons on September 12.
Subsequently, the Gauhati High Court stayed the eviction drive at Kochutoli till September 30, 2024, following a writ petition, reportedly by 51 families, challenging the government’s eviction drive in the area.
As such, the houses of these 51 petitioners, who claimed in the petition to be original settlers in the area, were reportedly not covered under the eviction drive on Tuesday.
Notably, the district administration had identified about 150 illegally-built structures on tribal belt land in the area before conducting the eviction drive. The structures are expected to be razed with the help of bulldozers in the coming days.
“As many as six sectors in the area have been ascertained for the eviction drive. Most of the 150 illegally built structures in the area were deserted when we started the eviction drive at 10 am,” an official said.
The official further said the drive was carried after a survey and that the families evicted had failed to produce registered documents/ affidavits.
No untoward incidents were reported from the eviction site till Tuesday evening.
On the other hand, the Goalpara district administration also launched an eviction drive at the Bandarmatha Reserve Forest at Lakhipur on Tuesday.
Reportedly, over 55 hectares of forest land at Bandarmatha have been occupied by illegal settlers even as notices have been issued by the authorities to these families to vacate the forest area.
The decision to evict the encroachers of Bandarmatha Reserve Forest has been reportedly taken following an order of Gauhati High Court on a suo motu PIL of 2022, asking the authorities to remove the encroachers from the area, which also houses a crucial elephant corridor.