Xatra land 109 bighas under encroachment

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, March 3: Over 109 bighas of Xatra land in the State are under encroachment, the government said today.

Giving details, Revenue minister Dr Bhumidhar Barman said around 57 bigha land of Barpeta Xatra is under encroachment. Around 15 bigha land of Thakur Aata Xatra in Bongaigaon and 37 bigha land of Patekibari Xatra in Morigaon are under illegal occupation, while 2 katha 7 lecha land of Ramrai Xatra in Dhubri has been encroached upon.

In response to a query by AGP legislator Phani Bhusan Choudhury, Dr Barman also stated that the Gauhati High Court had in May, 1997, asked the State and Central governments to clear the Xatra lands of encroachment.

Large tracts of government land in the State are also under illegal occupation.

Around 41,25,337 bighas of government land spread in 27 districts of the State are under encroachment.

The highest encroachment of government land is in Sonitpur district (5,07,727 bighas), followed by Dhemaji (4,87,539 bighas) and Lakhimpur (4,63,569 bighas). In Kamrup (metro), a total of 35,368 bighas of government land are under encroachment.