Lack of Eviction Policy of Dispur: Encroachers Have A Field Day

Lack of Eviction Policy of Dispur: Encroachers Have A Field Day

GUWAHATI: Encroachment continues unabated in Assam, thanks to the lack of a clear-cut eviction policy of Dispur.

Even though the BJP-led government soon after coming to power in 2016 made a tall claim to clear encroachments from all important and major sites including xatras across the State, the government is yet to implement an effective policy that will not only clear encroachments and encroachers but also prevent future illegal settlement. Only a recent Cabinet meeting of the Sarbananda Sonowal government decided to frame a policy to clear encroachment from xatras.

The recent overnight encroachments at Chandrapur, Tatimara and Panikhaiti areas in Kamrup (metro) district by suspected illegal nationals is evident of Dispur’s helpless situation due to the non-existence of a clear-cut eviction policy. Sources said the people who were evicted from Mayong in Morigaon district during a massive drive in 2016 must have settled themselves at Chandrapur, Tatimara and Panikhaiti. Even though the Deputy Commissioner of Kamrup (Metropolitan) district, Biswajit Pegu said illegal settlement at Chandrapur, Tatimara and Panikhaiti will be cleared soon, the concerned circle questioned as to whether the administration will be able to permanently prevent re-encroachment at such sites.

An official of the Forest department said any eviction drive must be well planned and executed in close coordination with various departments. He said only the forest department or any other single department cannot prevent encroachment alone.

“When illegal settlement takes place in a particular place, local residents must immediately inform the administration and other departments concerned to remove encroachers. The eviction drive always creates law-and-order problem and such a drive hits roadblock due to the hue and cry over the humanitarian angle,” the official said.

Going by the present scenario, encroachers will continue to have a field day till the government draws up a clear-cut eviction policy.

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