246 families to be evicted as anti-encroachment drive begins in Assam's Goalpara

Goalpara: About 246 families will be evicted as the Assam government began an anti-encroachment drive to clear the Nalbari Reserve Forest in Goalpara district of illegal settlers, an official said.

Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Goalpara Tejas Mariswamy said these 246 families were served notice to vacate the land and many have already left.

'Three teams have been formed and they are carrying out the drive. If possible, we will finish the drive by Tuesday. We have kept Wednesday as the spare day,' he said, adding that the eviction is being carried out with the assistance of the Goalpara civil and police administration.

Mariswamy said in areas with permanent structures, excavators are being used for demolition, dismissing the possibility of relocating the people as they were 'encroachers' on forest land.

'We are hopeful that the Nalbari Reserve Forest will be completely encroachment-free at the end of this drive,' he said.

About 100 hectares of land will be cleared, with the eviction carried out in Hatimura, Hasdoba and Angtihara areas on the first day, officials said.

A similar drive was carried out in the forest on July 17, in which 15 families were evicted, they said.

After coming to power in May 2021, the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led BJP government has been carrying out such eviction drives across the state, which often led to clashes between security personnel and people living there for years. Thousands of people, mostly Bengali-speaking Muslims, have been evicted so far.

In September 2021, two persons were killed in police firing during an eviction drive in Sipajhar in Darrang district, according to officials.

In one of the largest eviction drives, 2,099 hectare of the Burachapori Wildlife Sanctuary in Sonitpur district was cleared in February, affecting about 12,800 people.

In another eviction drive in the same area, one person was killed and three forest guards injured in July.

Dismissing the opposition's criticism, CM Sarma has maintained that the eviction drive to clear government and forest land would continue as long as the BJP is in power in the state.