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Assam: Lakhimpur district administration to carry out eviction drive on January 10

Assam: Lakhimpur district administration to carry out eviction drive on January 10

Out of 2,560.25 hectares of Pava reserved forest, only 29 hectares are currently free of any encroachment, and as many as 10, 500 hectares in Adhasona and Mohghuli villages will be cleared.

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Lakhimpur district administration will carry out an eviction drive to clear over 500 hectares of forest land in the district on January 10, said officials.

As per officials, the eviction drive will affect nearly 100 families.

''Out of 2,560.25 hectares of Pava reserved forest, only 29 hectares are currently free of any encroachment and as many as 10, 500 hectares in Adhasona and Mohghuli villages will be cleared, they added.

As per Lakhimpur divisional forest officer (DFO) Ashok Kumar Dev Choudhury, around 701 families have encroached upon the Pava reserved forest land over the last decades.

''The illegal settlers include from different parts of the state as well as locals displaced due to flood and erosion,'' Choudhury was quoted as saying by reports.

District Deputy Commissioner Sumit Sattawan said about 80 families have already left the villages and another 100 are still living at the place.

''We have requested people still living there to leave peacefully,'' he added.

Sattawan said that people living in the encroached areas were notified by the forest department and local administration two years ago to leave the area.

As per the Deputy Commissioner, in July last year, as many as 84 families submitted documents claiming land ownership, however, these claims were found to be fake upon scrutiny.

It is worth mentioning that ever since the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led government came to power, it has been carrying out eviction drives in different parts of the state.

In December last year, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the BJP government would continue to carry out eviction exercises and there was no point in talking about it. 

''We will not stop and we will clear forest and government land across the state as well as in Batadrava,'' he added.

Also read: Assam: Gauhati High Court orders Bharalumukh Police Station to register case against 9 cops for torturing an accused

Edited By: Amit Chaurasia
Published On: Jan 09, 2023