Goalpara Forest Department's eviction notice will hamper 230 crore rubber business: Farmers

Farmers in Assam's Goalpara district on November 2 opposed the eviction notice issued by Forest department citing that it would hamper the profit they earned from rubber farming. 

The farmers claimed that they contribute to the country's economy by earning 230 crores yearly.

''If the forest department carried out the eviction in the name of the man-elephant conflict, the forest department will be held accountable for the bloodshed caused by the farmers,'' a farmer said while speaking to the media.

Following the eviction notice, thousands of farmers came out against the forest department and chanted 'Murdabad' at the Kali temple courtyard of Agia.
 
''The entire Goalpara district may get heated up if the eviction drives,'' the farmer added.

However, this step of the forest department has also worried the farmers in the Goalpara district.

According to the sources, the rubber farmers in the district will be the worst hit if the forest department carries out the eviction drive posing a threat to the country’s economy too.

In this regard, a protest rally was held on November 2 at the Agia public playground under the initiative of the Goalpara District Rubber Farmers' Association. 

Thousands of other farmers, including rubber farmers of the district, attended the farmers' met and raised slogans such as ‘forest department Murdabad’, and ‘forest department's eviction will not be accepted. 

It is worth mentioning that every year the farmers of the district have been earning Rs 230 crore from rubber cultivation alone. So, many fear that if the eviction drive is carried out in Goalpara, many young people will be unemployed and may also take the path of extreme methods.

It is worth mentioning that the court had directed the forest department to take action in this regard after a man from the Bongaigaon district appealed to the high court that the forest area of Goalpara was encroached upon. 

Action upon Court's order, the forest department has now sent a notice to clear the forest department's land from encroachments across the district.