Fresh encroachment in Jorhat's Dissoi forest: Student body warns of economic blockade

Assam govt’s inaction draws flak; union threatens economic blockade over unresolved Nagaland border issue;

Update: 2025-07-03 10:38 GMT
Fresh encroachment in Jorhats Dissoi forest: Student body warns of economic blockade

The members of Tai Ahom Students' Union at the encroachment site on Thursday. (AT Photo)

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Jorhat, July 3: Tensions along the Assam-Nagaland border have flared up yet again, with fresh allegations of encroachment surfacing from the Dissoi Valley Reserve Forest area in Mariani, Jorhat district.

Locals and student bodies have accused armed miscreants from neighbouring Nagaland of illegally occupying land, clearing forest cover, and establishing settlements with impunity.

On Thursday, a delegation from the Tai Ahom Students’ Union visited the alleged encroachment sites and expressed grave concern over what they described as unchecked occupation of forest land.

The Union criticised the Assam government for its “cowardly silence” and warned of launching an economic blockade against Nagaland if the issue remained unresolved.

“Going by what we saw today, about 90% of land in the Dissoi Valley Reserve Forest has already been encroached upon. The Assam government has failed us. They are afraid of retaliation and never step in to assess the ground reality,” said Dhrupad Lahon, president of the Union’s Jorhat Town Samiti.

The Union’s Jorhat District Samiti president Rajiv Gogoi added that alleged encroachers had begun cultivating rubber and betelnut on the occupied land, while both the district administration and the Forest Department had ignored repeated complaints.

“The situation is worsening every day. We've kept the authorities informed, but there’s been no action,” Gogoi said.

This marks the second such flare-up in a week. On June 27, Mariani residents had accused armed groups from Nagaland of forcibly clearing forest areas in Nagajanka and establishing rubber plantations.

The recently built Bihato settlement in the Dissoi Valley Reserve Forest — under the New Sonowal Range of the Mariani Forest Division — is being cited as a fresh example of the alleged systematic encroachment.

Residents say it follows the earlier Vikto Akahuto settlement, both reportedly built by armed settlers from across the border.

According to locals, around 15 houses were set up by alleged encroachers as recently as June 11, near the New Sonowal Forest Office and the Border Observation Post.

Despite this, authorities have yet to deploy additional security forces or initiate talks with Nagaland to defuse the situation.

The issue of land encroachment by Nagaland is not new to the region. Over the past two years, multiple incidents of border skirmishes, including firing and abductions, have been reported.

During the Budget session of the Assam Legislative Assembly earlier this year, Border Protection and Development Minister Atul Bora informed the House that nearly 83,000 hectares of land across 17 districts of Assam had been encroached upon by neighbouring states — with Nagaland accounting for 59,490.21 hectares.

With local anger mounting and no immediate intervention from either the Assam government or the Centre, the fragile peace along the inter-state border continues to teeter on the edge.

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