Tezpur/Nagaon: The Assam government on Tuesday completed an eviction drive to clear alleged encroachment from around 6,200 bighas (nearly 830 hectares) of land in Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuary, affecting 710 families, officials said.
The eviction drive began on the morning of January 5 to clear the encroached land inside the forest, spread across Sonitpur and Nagaon districts, and it was completed on Tuesday evening, Sonitpur District Commissioner Ananda Kumar Das said.
“Nearly 710 families had illegally settled and occupied about 6,200 bighas of forest land inside the protected wildlife sanctuary. Over the course of the two-day operation, the administration successfully evicted all illegal occupants and freed the encroached land,” he added.
The eviction was carried out in several areas falling under the Tezpur Sadar and Dhekiajuli revenue circles, including Jamuktol, Arimari, Siyalichar, Baghetapu, Galatidubi, Lathimari, Kundulichar, Purba Dubramari and Batulichar.
“After the clearance of about 40 per cent of the land from the clutches of land encroachers, the Sonitpur district administration launched the eviction operation in the remaining land,” another official said.
The alleged encroachers had built houses and cultivated crops inside the Burhachapari Wildlife Sanctuary, he added.
Most of the people living there had demolished their houses and carried household items to other destinations by themselves, but many encroachers stayed back on the said land due to severe cold, requesting the administration to give time for harvesting their crops.
“Despite the encroachers’ request not to evict them in the ongoing winter season, they will not be excused by administration from the
ongoing eviction drive as they were illegally staying in the forest areas,” Das said.