Assam CM hails Gauhati HC order on forest fencing, vows stronger eviction drive

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has welcomed the Gauhati High Court’s directive to fence forest land, calling the ruling a major boost to the state’s campaign against encroachment. He said the verdict empowers the government to push forward with more eviction drives and ensures that political promises to restore land to encroachers will no longer stand.

The division bench, headed by Chief Justice Ashwini Kumar and Justice Arun Dev Choudhary, ordered the state to fence reserved forests and warned against fresh intrusions. Encroachers have been given 15 days to reply to notices and another 15 days to vacate. The court also held government officials accountable for allowing encroachments to grow unchecked.

Sarma argued that large-scale encroachments occurred under previous governments and insisted that those responsible must face action. He stressed that the latest ruling has provided legal clarity, strengthening the state’s resolve to free forest land.

Recent eviction drives underline that push. In Uriamghat, Golaghat district, more than 10,000 bighas were cleared earlier this month, followed by nearly 2,500 bighas in the Rengma Reserve Forest. The government claims to have reclaimed over 1.29 lakh bighas of forest and government land across Assam to date.

Officials said the operations have dismantled numerous illegal structures across several high-density encroachment zones, including Bidyapur, Pithaghat, Sonaribeel, Doyalpur, Dolonipathar, Kherbari, Anandapur and Madhupur.

With the High Court’s order in place, the state is preparing for stricter enforcement, with Sarma making it clear that the government will not compromise in its effort to protect forest land.