GUWAHATI, July 29: The Assam government on Tuesday conducted a major eviction drive at Rengma forest reserve in Golaghat district’s Uriamghat under Sarupathar sub-division along the state’s border with Nagaland.
The eviction, led by the Golaghat district administration and state forest department, aims to clear 11,000 bighas of encroached land, affecting about 1,500 families who were earlier served eviction notices.
Officials said the first phase of the eviction began on Tuesday morning amid tight security in the Vidyapur market area.
The drive would soon be extended to residential areas, reportedly targeting 2,648 illegal structures spread across 12 villages located within the forest zone.
Authorities confirmed that around 2,000 families were residing in the area, of whom 1,500 have been deemed illegal settlers.
According to reports, about 2,000 police personnel and 500 forest guards were deployed to assist in the drive with as many as 100 excavators stationed at the site to carry out the demolition of illegal structures on forest land.
Senior police officers are also at the eviction site to supervise and coordinate the multi-agency operation.
“This was anticipated to be a tough exercise which has been meticulously carried out to ensure that there are no settlers during the eviction. All settlers have vacated the area,” a forest official said.
An official from the Golaghat district administration said the eviction was being carried out in accordance with law to ensure no harm was caused to the ecological integrity of the protected forest area,” he said.
Reportedly, 10,958 hectares out of 13,921 hectares of the forest reserve at Rengma have been encroached with large tracts of forest land allegedly converted into commercial plantations.
Nagaland alert
Meanwhile, amid Assam’s eviction drive at Rengma reserve forest Uriamghat, neighbouring state of Nagaland has been placed on high alert owing to fears of a possible influx of evicted people from across the state’s border.
Nagaland director general of police, Rupin Sharma addressed the situation, detailing the state’s approach amid concerns of a spillover of evicted settlers from Assam, while urging people of the state to cooperate with the law enforcement.