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A CORRESPONDENT
LAKHIMPUR: Several organizations of Lakhimpur district have demanded to prevent the ongoing encroachment in the land of Assam belonging to Lakhimpur district. Regarding the sensitive issue, the organizations, including Lakhimpur district units of All Assam Students' Union, Asom Jatityatabadi Yuva Parishad, and Gorkha Students' Union, submitted a memorandum to the district administration demanding adequate steps against the aggression of Arunachali people on the land belonging to Assam. The organizations declared that they would initiate intensified agitation programmes unless the State Government and the district administration took necessary steps against the illegal encroachment from across the border
Notably, taking advantage of the inaction of Lakhimpur district administration and Divisional Forest Office concerned, the aggression of encroachment from across the border still continues in Kakoi and Dollung reserve forests in Lakhimpur district. Violating the status quo on Assam-Arunachal border dispute, a section of people from Arunachal Pradesh have not only occupied the land of Assam under the jurisdiction of the said reserve forests by establishing residential areas but also reared fish by digging several ponds crossing the inter-State borderline. In this regard, a detailed report on the encroachment at Kakaoi Reserve Forest was published in the September 29, 2019 issue of The Sentinel.
Recently, the people from Arunachal Pradesh obstructed the Lakhimpur district administration from establishing a Border Out Post (BOP) in the land of Assam. Centering around the issue, a tense situation prevailed at Rajgarh in the Assam-Arunachal border area on Thursday. The Lakhimpur district administration has made arrangements to set up the BOP at Rajgarh as a reply to the demand made by the people living in the Assam-Arunachal border. On February 7, a section of Arunachali people warned not to construct the BOP building in the proposed area and attempted to construct a church near the proposed BOP site on February 8. Although the Lakhimpur Divisional Forest Department evicted the construction of the aggressive Arunachali people, a tense situation has prevailed in the area since then.
On Thursday, over 300 Arunachali people once again obstructed the construction of the BOP and claimed a vast area, covering more than seven kilometers belonging to Lakhimpur district as the land of Arunachal Pradesh. In this regard, these Arunachali people, allegedly equipped with arms, argued with a team of Assam Police and delegates of various organizations. As a result of it, they had to come back and the organizations blocked the Ghagar-Nagar (Lakhimpur) and Arunachal connecting road. As per the source from the Forest Department, an area of Assam covering almost seven km has been encroached under the Dollung Reserve Forest by aggressors who have set up a village in the area.
On the other hand, a talk between the Lakhimpur district administration represented by the Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police and the Kamley district administration (Arunachal Pradesh) represented by the Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police concerned took place in the disputed area recently regarding the sensitive issue. When asked, Lakhimpur Deputy Commissioner Dr. Jeevan B informed The Sentinel that the Kamley DC and SP promised to withdraw the encroaches by maintaining the status quo as directed by the Supreme Court on the Assam-Arunachal border dispute.
Further, the Lakhimpur DC and SP held a discussion over the issue at Kadam Revenue Circle Office on the same day. In the discussion, DC gave word to initiate due steps to resolve the problem.