Nearly one-fourth government land under encroachment

BY Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, June 16: One of the promises made by the BJP during its election campaign is that, if voted to power, it will clear all government lands of encroachment. Given the enormity of the problem, the new government appears to have a colossal task at hand.

The total government land in the State is 1,71,86,897 bighas, of which as much as 39,90,156 bighas - or 23.2 percent - are under encroachment. The Congress in its 15-year rule did little to address the issue, and its iction only ensured that the problem grew more intractable by the day.

There are allegations that some of the illegal settlers on government land are of suspect tiolity.

There are also reports of mondols settling people on government land for money, while in some places the settlers are alleged to have political patroge.

The problem is worst at Dhemaji where 4,87,539 bighas of government land have been usurped.

In Lakhimpur district, 4,63,569 bighas are under encroachment, while in Tinsukia 3,44,644 bighas of government land has been occupied illegally.

Even in Kamrup (Metro) district, around 35,368 bighas are under encroachment, while in Kamrup district the figure is 3,54,604 bighas.