Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday reiterated the state government’s commitment to continuing eviction drives, revealing that more than 25,000 acres of land have been cleared of encroachment over the past four years. The announcement came during a press conference held in Guwahati following a cabinet meeting.
The Chief Minister informed that a significant eviction drive is slated for Saturday in Goalpara district to reclaim encroached forest land. “As of now, the Assam government has cleared thousands of bighas of land in the last four years. In my view, it is not less than 25,000 acres of land. This is huge,” Sarma stated, emphasising the scale of the ongoing efforts. He further added that he would hold another press conference next week to provide comprehensive data on all eviction drives conducted since he assumed office in May 2021.
Regarding the upcoming Goalpara drive, Sarma mentioned, “We will have another eviction drive on Saturday in Goalpara. The Gauhati High Court has asked us to clear forest land. It only said that we should provide drinking water and other essential items to the evicted people.” The Goalpara district administration’s plan involves clearing approximately 1,040 bighas of land in the Paikan Reserve Forest of Krishnai Forest Range, a move that is expected to displace 1,080 families.
The Chief Minister clarified the government’s stance on providing land rights to those evicted, stating, “The government is willing to provide land rights to the evicted people provided they are bona fide Indian citizens and they are landless. Regarding the condition of landlessness, they have to be landless in their native places, not at the evicted place.” He claimed that only a very small percentage of individuals typically come forward to claim land rights following an eviction drive.
Touching upon the recent Lakhimpur eviction drive, Sarma alleged that individuals from Sribhumi, South Salmara-Mankachar, and other minority-dominated areas had settled in the northern Assam district. “There was a big conspiracy to change the demography of Lakhimpur. If there is no BJP, there would not be restoration of the demography. We have restored the demography at several places where eviction had taken place,” he asserted. Sarma also claimed that Hindus have become a minority in several areas, citing Dhubri town as an example and alleging that 10,000-12,000 people from Baghbor in Barpeta had migrated there, altering the demographic pattern. He added, “In Goalpara, there is a 200-300-years-old temple. But Hindus in the area are a minority.”
Earlier this week, approximately 3,500 bighas of land, affecting around 1,100 families, in Charuwa Bakra, Chirakuta, and Santoshpur villages under Chapar circle were cleared. This land is intended for the Adani Group to establish a power plant. During this drive, alleged encroachers reportedly damaged excavators and attempted to assault police personnel, prompting security forces to resort to baton-charge to disperse the crowd. Last month, Sarma had visited the proposed power plant site and announced that a 3,400 MW thermal power plant would be established there, with tenders for the project to be floated soon.
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