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Over 1.19 lakh bighas encroached land cleared in Assam: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma
This disclosure comes days after back-to-back eviction drives in Dhubri and Goalpara, where thousands of families were removed from forest and revenue lands.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said the state government has freed more than 1.19 lakh bighas of government land from illegal occupation over the last four years.
In a public post, Sarma said Assam has faced an “existential threat due to rampant illegal infiltration and a planned encroachment to alter the demography of districts”. He said his government’s policies have now become a “major roadblock” to these alleged designs.
“We are making a determined effort to safeguard Assam’s interests. As a result of firm action, over 1.19 lakh bighas of land have been cleared from encroachers,” Sarma said.
As per the figures shared by the chief minister, the eviction drives were carried out in Sonitpur (39,527.72 bighas), Darrang (17,905 bighas), Lakhimpur (13,481.54 bighas), Hojai (10,749.60 bighas), Goalpara (8,280.36 bighas), Sribhumi (formerly Karimganj) (6,534.48 bighas), Dhubri (4,748.25 bighas), and Cachar (3,291.91 bighas).
These include Kamrup (Rural) with 1,788.03 bighas, Kamrup (Metro) with 1,320.60 bighas, Hailakandi with 1,960.78 bighas, Tinsukia with 766.44 bighas, Nalbari with 863.84 bighas, Karbi Anglong with 245.24 bighas, Chirang with 1,573.47 bighas, and Kokrajhar with 1,734 bighas.
Other districts with lower figures include Barpeta (2,016 bighas), Morigaon (315.94 bighas), Bongaigaon (523.50 bighas), Sivasagar (222.85 bighas), Charaideo (58 bighas), West Karbi Anglong (22.06 bighas), Dibrugarh (17.78 bighas), Jorhat (0.55 bigha), and South Salmara-Mankachar (13.71 bighas).
This disclosure comes days after back-to-back eviction drives in Dhubri and Goalpara, where thousands of families were removed from forest and revenue lands. The Goalpara drive alone targeted over 1,000 bighas in the Paikan Reserve Forest area.
While the government insists the evictions are based on court directives and meant to protect forest and tribal lands, opposition parties and rights groups have accused the administration of targeting specific communities under the pretext of anti-encroachment measures.
Many evicted residents have alleged they were given little to no rehabilitation support, while some claimed to have voter ID and Aadhaar documents showing long-term residence.
Since taking office in May 2021, the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led government has conducted several eviction operations across the state. The CM had earlier said over 25,000 acres of land have been cleared in the last four years, leading to a drop in human-animal conflict and the return of wildlife in previously encroached areas.
