Eviction drive launched to clear encroached village grazing reserve land in Assam

Nalbari: The Assam government launched an eviction drive on Monday morning to clear encroachments from 82 bighas of village grazing reserve (VGR) land in Assam's Nalbari district, officials said.

The eviction drive began at Bakrikuchi village under Borkhetry revenue circle early in the morning amid tight security.

No untoward incidents have been reported so far, District Commissioner Nibedan Das Patowary told reporters here.

Through a notice, the circle office on June 3 asked the encroachers at VGR to clear the land but the residents approached the Gauhati High Court which ruled that all VGR lands across the state must be cleared.

VGR land is designated for the specific purpose of cattle grazing in villages.

"The people residing on the encroached land cooperated with the district administration and over 70 per cent of them had moved out with their belongings," Patowary said.

Around 300 families had settled on the VGR and they are cooperating with the administration, he said.

Around 500 security personnel have been deployed in the area and more have been kept on standby to prevent any untoward incidents, IGP (Law and Order) Akhilesh Kumar Singh, who is also camping at the site, said. "The eviction has been peaceful so far and we have not faced any resistance.

A total of 452 bighas have been encroached. But people have built houses only on 82 bighas. They use the remaining area for fisheries and agriculture. A report is being prepared and action will be taken accordingly, a circle official said.

There are also schools, mosques and Anganwadi centres in the village.

Altogether 12 bulldozers have been pressed into service to demolish the unauthorised structures.

Many of the encroachers were seen camping with their belongings on the main road leading to the village and they demanded that they should be adequately rehabilitated.

This is the second eviction drive in June. The earlier drive was carried out on June 15 and 16, when 667 families in Hasilabeel village in Goalpara district were evicted.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had recently said that eviction drives to clear encroached land will continue.

Many eviction drives have been carried out over the last four years, and his government has ensured that the cleared land is not encroached upon again, Sarma said.

"We have conducted at least one eviction drive in each district, and our biggest achievement is that now people are afraid to settle on encroached land," Sarma had said.