Assam govt to evict 2,500 families, clear 540 hectares of land for power project, forest drive

The Assam government has geared up to clear more than 4,000 bighas (over 540 hectares) of land from alleged encroachments in two districts, with the drive likely to affect around 2,500 families, officials said on Monday.

The administration has firmed up plans to evict 1,200-1,400 families to clear 3,000 bighas of land in three revenue villages in Dhubri on Tuesday, while it will carry out a similar drive, displacing around 1,100 families in Goalpara to free around 1,040 bighas of forest land on or after Thursday.

A senior official of the Dhubri district administration told PTI that an eviction drive will begin for clearing land to hand over the same for a proposed thermal power project by the Adani group in Chapor revenue circle.

A senior official of the Dhubri district administration told PTI that an eviction drive will begin for clearing land to hand over the same for a proposed thermal power project by the Adani group in Chapor revenue circle.

"We have allotted 3,500 bighas to Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) for handing it over to the Adani group. Out of that, around 3,000 bighas are encroached by 1,200-1,400 families and we will clear that land," he added.

The eviction drive will take place in Charuwa Bakra, Chirakuta and Santoshpur villages, and the villagers were given proper notice to clear the alleged encroached land, the official claimed.

"We have earmarked 300 bighas at Baizar Alga in Athani circle for a temporary rehabilitation of the encroachers. We have also sanctioned Rs 50,000 each and already many people have received the amount before voluntarily leaving their land," he added.

The official said that there are many families who have permanent 'pattas' or land rights in these three villages and the government will start a proper land acquisition process by compensating them as per set standards.

Last month, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma visited the proposed site for the power plant and announced that a 3,400 MW thermal power plant will be established there ,and a tender for the project will be floated shortly.

In Goalpara, the district administration will carry out the eviction drive to clear around 1,040 bighas of land in Paikan Reserve Forest of Krishnai Forest Range, Goalpara Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Tejas Mariswamy said.

"There are 1,080 families who have encroached on forest land, and we had asked them to vacate it in November-December of last year. We again gave them notice last month to leave the area by July 10, he added.

The DFO said many families have already left the forest, while he hoped that the remaining would also go away within the next two days before the eviction drive starts.

"Since 2023, we have cleared 650 hectares of land from encroachment across four forest ranges. Out of that, human habitation was in 200 hectares and farming was done in the remaining 450 hectares," Mariswamy said. (PTI)