Nagaland begins eviction of encroachers from Dimapur airport premises

The district administrations of Dimapur and Chümoukedima on Friday conducted an eviction drive to remove illegal encroachments on Dimapur Airport land, an official said.
    
The eviction drive was carried out over 17.9 acres of land, in the presence of independent observers including tribal bodies, civil society organisations (CSOs) from both Dimapur and Chümoukedima, and village councils from neighbouring areas who acted as independent witnesses.
    
Deputy Commissioner of Dimapur, Tinojongshi Chang said that there was no resistance from the affected residents, as most had vacated the premises voluntarily. While the number of encroachments stood at 22, a total of 24 structures were found and removed, including 4 RCC buildings, 3 semi-pucca structures, and 17 thatched houses. He said that due legal procedures were followed, including a 15-day notice period and an additional grace period.

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Regarding the Assam Rifles Training Centre (3rd Mile) and the CRPF camp within the airport land, the DC said these matters would be dealt with separately. He confirmed that the Assam Rifles have been directed to relocate to ARTC Shokhuvi.
    
The deputy commissioner said this land had already been acquired by the government and handed over to the Airport Authority.
    
The DC also revealed that a certain individual had manipulated land documents, as evident from multiple overwritings. Specifically, a land record of 27 bighas had been altered to 47 bighas, which was discovered during scrutiny.
    
Further, the DC stated that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to investigate illegal land transactions that reportedly occurred between 2012 and 2015.
    
Deputy Commissioner of Chümoukedima, Polan John said that while the land documents presented by the encroachers were for Ekranipathar village, they were in fact occupying land in Diphupar village.