95% of encroachers leave Goalpara forest ahead of eviction drive

Goalpara, July 11: A day before a scheduled eviction drive to clear over 1,000 bighas of encroached forest land in Goalpara district’s Paikan Reserve Forest, nearly 95% of the alleged encroachers have already vacated the area, district officials confirmed on Friday.

Goalpara Deputy Commissioner Khanindra Choudhury said that the district administration is fully prepared to assist the forest department to ensure a smooth anti-encroachment operation. “Around 90–95% of the settlers have already moved out, dismantling their makeshift establishments and taking away their belongings. Only permanent or brick structures remain,” he said.

The eviction drive, originally scheduled for Friday, was postponed by a day considering Friday prayers in the Muslim-majority area. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had announced the change earlier this week.

Goalpara Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Tejas Mariswamy stated that the drive will clear encroachments on about 1,040 bighas in the Paikan Reserve Forest under the Krishnai Forest Range. “There are around 1,080 families who have encroached on the forest land. We asked them to vacate the area in November-December last year and issued fresh notices last month asking them to leave by July 10,” he said.

Since 2023, the district administration has already cleared encroachments from about 650 hectares of forest land across four ranges, with human settlements on 200 hectares and farming on the remaining 450 hectares.

Encroachment-related evictions have been ongoing across Assam. Earlier this week, around 1,100 families were evicted from 3,500 bighas of land in Charuwa Bakra, Chirakuta, and Santoshpur villages in Dhubri district, to facilitate the setting up of a 3,400 MW thermal power plant by the Adani Group. The operation saw resistance from locals, including damage to excavators and attacks on police, prompting security forces to resort to baton charges to control the situation.

Chief Minister Sarma reiterated on Thursday that eviction drives will continue, with over 25,000 acres cleared in the last four years. He added that the Gauhati High Court has directed the state to clear forest land, with the condition of ensuring drinking water and other essentials for displaced families.

Meanwhile, the Congress party has slammed the state government’s eviction policy, promising that if voted to power, it will compensate all Indian citizens displaced by eviction drives during the BJP’s tenure.

- PTI