Assam clears 6,200 bighas of encroached land from Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuary, 710 families affected

The Assam government on January 6 completed an eviction drive to clear alleged encroachment from around 6,200 bighas, nearly 830 hectares, of land inside the Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuary, affecting about 710 families, officials said.

The two-day eviction drive began on January 5 to remove illegal settlements from forest land spread across Sonitpur and Nagaon districts and concluded on Tuesday evening. Sonitpur District Commissioner Ananda Kumar Das said nearly 710 families had illegally occupied forest land within the protected sanctuary. “Over the course of the two-day operation, the administration successfully evicted all illegal occupants and freed the encroached land,” he said.

The eviction was carried out in multiple areas under the Tezpur Sadar and Dhekiajuli revenue circles, including Jamuktol, Arimari, Siyalichar, Baghetapu, Galatidubi, Lathimari, Kundulichar, Purba Dubramari and Batulichar. Officials said the district administration moved to clear the remaining areas after around 40 per cent of the land had already been freed earlier.

According to officials, the alleged encroachers had constructed houses and cultivated crops within the sanctuary. While many residents dismantled their homes and relocated on their own, some remained on the land citing severe cold conditions and requested time to harvest crops. The administration, however, declined to halt the operation, stating that illegal occupation of forest land could not be permitted irrespective of the season.

Sonitpur Senior Superintendent of Police Barun Purakayastha said the entire operation was completed without any untoward incident. More than 300 police personnel were deployed to maintain law and order, while 36 excavators and 60 tractors were used during the two-day drive.

In one of the largest eviction drives in the state, the Assam administration had cleared about 2,099 hectares of land in the Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuary and adjoining villages in February last year, affecting nearly 12,800 people. However, in July, one person was killed and at least seven others were injured in a clash between alleged encroachers and forest guards when some occupants attempted to re-enter the cleared areas.

Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuary, spread across 44.06 square kilometres on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra, is located about 180 km east of Guwahati and 40 km south of Tezpur. The protected forest is an integral part of the Laokhowa–Burhachapori ecosystem and serves as a notified buffer zone of the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.

The sanctuary is home to wildlife including the one-horned rhinoceros, tiger, leopard, wild buffalo, hog deer, wild pig and elephants. Its rich avifauna includes the critically endangered Bengal florican, black-necked stork, mallard, open-billed stork, teal and whistling duck. The area has been a reserve forest since 1974 and was declared a wildlife sanctuary in July 1995.