Declared Foreigners Found Encroaching Government and Forest Lands in Assam

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: The demographic pressure or strain on Assam due to infiltration is multi-faceted – on the state’s resources, including land, infrastructure, and more.

The state cannot simply get rid of the unabated infiltration even as the people of the state started an agitation in 1979 against foreigners. The Assam agitation led to the signing of the Assam Accord in 1985, but illegal infiltration from Bangladesh continues unabated even today. It seems unbelievable but true that a section of the infiltrators has encroached upon government land and forest land in the state.

The state government has intensified eviction drives to free government land and forest land from encroachers since 2021. It has also come to light that some declared foreigners encroached upon government and forest land in the state.

According to information available with The Sentinel, at least 261 declared foreigners encroached upon lands in the Goalpara district and the Golaghat district. Between 2021 and the first half of 2026, the state government evicted over 20,000 families who had illegally occupied either government lands or forest lands. When the government verified the identities of the evicted families, it came to light that declared foreigners also grabbed land – 20 in the Goalpara district and 241 in the Golaghat district.

When the Goalpara district administration carried out eviction drives in Hasila Beel, Paikan Reserve Forest and Dahikota Reserve Forest in 2025, it found the 20 declared foreigners grabbing land.

The Golaghat district administration also conducted eviction drives last year and found 241 declared foreigners encroaching upon lands – 227 under Uriamghat Police Station and 14 in Merapani Police Station.

It sounds like the ‘eighth wonder’ of the world: how could legally declared foreigners illegally encroach upon government and forest land in a state? Isn’t it indicative of holes in the mechanism for deporting foreigners from the state? The state government should overhaul the entire system and address the existing gaps. The revenue circle officers concerned in the districts of the state have a greater responsibility to have a fair knowledge of the antecedents of land encroachers in their respective jurisdictions.

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