Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: Encroachments of land and eviction drives have become a never-ending saga in Assam, with the evicted people encroaching upon fresh areas after every eviction. A tangible solution is possible only if the administration adopts a mechanism that can prevent fresh encroachment of lands anywhere in the state.
For a section of political parties and social organizations, making forest lands free from encroachment is not what they actually want. They conveniently rake up humanitarian issues after each and every eviction drive in the state for their political mileage. The All Assam Minority Students' Union (AAMSU) is going to rake up the issue of eviction in Assam at the national level by staging a dharna in New Delhi on July 16 and 17, 2025, to be followed by a seminar on the issue.
On the other hand, after the Dhubri and Goalpara districts, the state government is determined to go ahead with its eviction drives to free encroached lands in the upper Assam districts.
Of late, a positive development that has emerged in the state is that wildlife have started to thrive in forest areas that have been made encroachment-free by the government in the recent past. An immediate example of such a development is the area that has been made encroachment-free in Laokhowa Wildlife Sanctuary.
According to sources, encroachment seems to be a chronic practice for a section of people who keep encroaching upon fresh areas after every eviction. A nerve-wracking question is: what prevents the administration from not evicting encroachers when it sees one or two houses in government forests or wetlands? The delayed action on the part of the administration allows hundreds of houses to illegally bob up on such lands. This practice gives the encroachers and their patrons enough room to create a hue and cry citing humanitarian questions.
A retired forest official said, "There had been no mechanism to monitor encroachment taking place in each and every corner of the vast forest areas in the state. Such encroachments often come to light when vast areas are already under the occupation of encroachers. Encroachers have no creed nor colour. Oftentimes, the forest administration had to stop their eviction drives due to unethical pressures from the sympathizers of the encroachers."
According to official sources, the cooperation from the public is a must to put an end to encroachment in the state. If the local people see encroachments in their nearby forest, government land, or wetlands, it is their duty to inform the administration immediately. This can ensure prompt action and nip the menace in the bud.
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