Assam eviction drive continues for second day

A massive eviction drive to clear encroachments from nearly 1,500 hectares of forest land in Assam’s Golaghat district continued for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, officials said.
The eviction drive, once completed, will displace around 1,500 families, mostly from the Muslim community, they added. The exercise started on Tuesday morning for clearing the encroachments from Rengma Reserve Forest in Uriamghat in Sarupathar sub-division along the Assam-Nagaland border.
Although the government claimed there were encroachments in the area, senior officials said there were houses under PMAY-G, water connection under JJM, government schools under SSA, sub-health centres under NHM and electricity connections to almost every household, besides markets, mosques, madrassas and churches.
“Today, the eviction drive started at Sonari Beel and Pithaghat area around 9 am. So far, everything is progressing as per plans and peacefully,” a district administration official told PTI.
On Tuesday, the eviction drive started from the main market area in Bidyapur area, followed by residential locations. During the drive, around 120 commercial structures spread over approximately 4.2 hectares of forest land were demolished. Amid rising anger, the Gauhati High Court has issued an interim directive regarding 73 applicants who sought relief from the eviction, The Assam Tribune report stated.
The court has instructed that no coercive action be taken against their properties till August 7. However, it did not grant a stay on the overall eviction.
Some organisations such as Miya Satra Parishad have warned of state-wide protests if resettlement isn’t assured. “If 35 lakh Bodos could demand Bodoland, why can’t 1.4 crore Miya Muslims ask for Miyaland?” said a spokesperson, adding that they would take the agitation “to its logical end”.
HC orders 4 NE states to form panel: The High Court has asked Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Mizoram to form a high-level committee to clear encroachments in forest areas along the inter-state borders of the four North Eastern states. The court on Tuesday was hearing a petition filed in 2018 by Asom Basaok, a Guwahati-based NGO, and another petition in 2023 by two residents of Sreebhumi district, seeking removal encroachments from forest areas of Assam.
“Convene a high-level meeting of the chief secretaries and chiefs of forest departments of each of the states as well as other relevant stakeholders for formulating a comprehensive plan for making the forest area encroachment free,” a HC bench comprising chief justice Ashutosh Kumar and justice Arun Dev Choudhury said in the order, HT report stated quoting the court order.