GOALPARA: More than 40 families were evicted in an anti-encroachment drive in Assam’s Goalpara district on Friday, an official said. Eviction notices were served in advance, he said.
The eviction drive was carried out with the help of excavators since morning in the Pancharatna area, under the Balijan revenue circle of the district. Security forces were also deployed for the operation, encountering resistance from the encroachers.
Many of those evicted claimed they had been living there for at least three generations and attempted to prevent the administration from carrying out the operation.
"I was born in this house, and now my grandchildren are here. A woman asserted that the administration cannot simply ask us to leave. Another senior resident said that the administration failed to make any alternative arrangements for them. "Where will the people live now?" he asked.
Some women tried to prevent the excavators, but police moved them away and cleared the way. The official reported that the operation resulted in the eviction of 44 families from various religious and linguistic groups.
Senior officials, including additional district commissioner Nabajyoti Pathak, Balijan circle officer Puja Das, and additional superintendent of police Anita Hazarika, oversaw the drive.
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