Guwahati: The Barpeta district administration in Assam carried out an eviction drive in order to clear illegally occupied government lands in the Baghbor constituency on Monday.
According to reports, the eviction drive took place in the Satra Kanara village in the Baghbor constituency of Assam’s Barpeta district.
During the effort, 400 bighas of illegally occupied government land in Satra Kanara’s seat number 12 were released.
Meanwhile, the district administration sent circulars to the inhabitants of government property warning them of the eviction campaign a week ago.
Many of the tenants who were evicted today were still there despite the fact that others had allegedly followed the warning and gone within the allotted time.
Officials informed that around 40 families had to be evicted during the drive conducted early today morning.
It should be mentioned that Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated on December 21 that the state will continue its eviction campaigns to remove government and forest land.
Speaking in the assembly during a Zero Hour discussion initiated by Congress MLA Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha, Sarma said the BJP government will continue to carry out eviction exercises and “there is no point talking about it”.
“Eviction is a continuous process and it won’t stop. We will clear forest and government land (across the state) as well as in Batadrava,” he said.
According to Sarma, Like Batadrava Satras are Vaishnavite monasteries that serve as symbols of Assamese identity and culture.
“All people, whether Hindus or Muslims, will have to vacate Satra land. We request all to leave the encroached land or else we will do eviction there,” he added.
When Congress MLA Rakibul Hussain appealed to the government to look after the basic needs such as drinking water and food of the evicted people in Batadrava, the chief minister said, “There’s no policy to give water to evicted people. They broke the law by occupying land, so we can’t hold camps for them. It’s the job of the NGOs.”