Assam: Around 3.35 lakh hectares of reserve forest lands still under encroachment

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: Around 3.35 lakh hectares of reserve forest lands are under encroachment in Assam.  The authorities concerned freed around 11,000 hectares of reserved forest lands from encroachers in the past three years.

Environment and Forest Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary informed the House today that the state has 323 reserve forests. Reserve forest areas measuring 3,35,322 hectares have been under encroachment in the state, he said. Of this, according to the minister, the neighbouring states have encroached upon 83,811 hectares, local people of the state have encroached upon 2,50,350 hectares, and tea gardens have encroached upon 1,161 hectares.

The total area of reserved forest in the state is 12.92 lakh hectares, and around 32 percent of this is under encroachment. The highest area of 210 sq km of reserve forest under encroachment is in the Kamrup West Forest Division. This is followed by 113 sq km in Hailakandi Forest Division, 91 sq km in Doomdooma Forest Division, 57 sq km in Goalpara Forest Division, etc.

Patowary said that eviction drives were going on, leading to making 10,905 hectares of reserved forest land free from encroachment in the past three years.

According to the Union Environment and Forest Ministry, protection and management of forests is primarily the responsibility of the state governments. To prevent encroachment, appropriate legal provisions are there in the Indian Forest Act of 1927, the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972, and the local forest acts and rules.

The Union Ministry issued advisories to the state governments to remove encroachments on forest lands and to ensure that further encroachments do not occur. State forest departments should use modern technologies like GIS (Geographical Informatics System), Global Positioning System (GPS), remote sensing, etc., to check encroachment, survey forest lands, and demarcate.

According to sources, encroachment of forest lands in Assam is an age-old issue, with the involvement of local people, the neighbouring states, tea estates, etc. Not checking the menace at the very beginning has completed it. The non-demarcation of forest areas leads local encroachers to intrude into the forest areas. Sometimes, political leaders also encourage local people to encroach upon forest lands. Land brokers are the ones who play an active role in the encroachment of forest areas in the state.

 Also Read: Assam: 2,000 evicted from Reserve Forest in Goalpara district

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