Fresh eviction drive begins at Lutumari Reserved Forest in Assam's Nagaon district

A CORRESPONDENT

NAGAON: Amid the festive celebrations of Durga Puja, the sound of excavators deployed by the administration once again echoed across the Lutumari area under the Kampur Forest Range Office in Nagaon district of central Assam on the occasion of Kati Bihu today. Following the eviction drive conducted by the Forest Department and the district administration in the Barpani Reserved Forest on Friday, a fresh eviction operation began early this morning in Lutumari Reserved Forest with the objective of clearing encroached forest land.

In November last year, the administration had evicted around 1,500 families from Lutumari Reserved Forest. However, the forest land could not be completely cleared of encroachments as several families residing in the area had approached the High Court. Following the court’s recent clearance for the eviction operation, the Forest Department, in coordination with the district administration, launched the drive today.

The operation was undertaken with the target of evicting around 600 families occupying approximately 314 hectares of land within the reserved forest. The Nagaon District Commissioner, the Superintendent of Police and senior Forest Department officials were present at the eviction site to monitor the situation and oversee the operation.

It may be mentioned that the eviction drive concluded peacefully today.

Meanwhile, a Congress delegation comprising party leader Wazed Ali Choudhury, MLA Nurul Huda, spokesperson Imdad Hussain and former state Congress president Ripun Bora visited the Barpani Reserved Forest, where an eviction drive had been conducted on Friday.

The Congress leaders took stock of the condition of some of the evicted residents. However, when they attempted to proceed further into the area, the police prevented them from doing so.

Also Read: Assam: Eviction drive conducted in Barpani reserve forest of Nagaon district