Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: The Assam government has constituted district-level committees to remove encroachment from notified and reserved forest land across the state, formalizing a procedure that was earlier placed before the Supreme Court.
According to a notification issued by the state Environment, Forest and Climate Change Department, the move aims to codify the eviction process and ensure uniform implementation without deviation.
The committee in each district will be headed by the District Commissioner, with the Divisional Forest Officer as member secretary, and the ADC (Revenue), the Range Officer concerned and the Circle Officer concerned as members.
The government has made it clear that (i) the committee shall issue notice to the alleged unauthorized occupants and shall give them an opportunity to adduce evidence to show that they have a legal and statutory right to occupy the land which is in their possession.
(ii) The action for removal of encroachment shall be taken only if it is found that there is an unauthorized encroachment in the forest area/reserved forest area.
(iii) In case the noticee is found to be within the revenue limits, outside the notified forest area/reserved forest area, the details of the noticee shall be sent to the Revenue Department. In such cases, Revenue department shall decide the future course of action.
(iv) If an unauthorized occupation is found in a forest/reserved forest area, after scrutiny of the documents, a speaking order shall be passed and shall be served on the person concerned, giving him 15 days’ notice to vacate the unauthorized occupation and only after expiry of the period of notice shall the action be taken to remove the unauthorized occupants.
(v) The occupation of a gaon panchayat in a forest shall be permissible only if there is sufficient proof, as per the Jamabandi Register maintained by the Forest Department or as provided under the Forest Rights Act.
(vi). The member secretary of the committee will issue notices and sign the speaking orders on behalf of the committee.
Also Read: Zero Tolerance on Forest Encroachment in Assam: CM Sarma