Guwahati: Over 800 security officers have been stationed at Batadraba in the Nagaon district of central Assam after the district administration began a massive eviction effort in the area on Monday morning.
The Bhumuraguri Grazing Reserve, Jamai Basti, Rampur, and Kadamoni areas are where the district administration is undertaking the drive since encroachers have taken over more than 980 bighas of land there.
Several excavators are being used in the eviction drive by the district administration.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma received the interim report of the Commission for Review & Assessment of Problems of Satra Land at a ceremony earlier on December 2 at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat at Janata Bhawan in Guwahati.
The 3-member commission, with Amguri MLA Pradeep Hazarika as Chairman and MLAs Rupak Sarma and Mrinal Saikia as members, was formed last year as per a resolution of the Assam Cabinet.
Speaking during the ceremony, the Assam Chief Minister commended the three members of the commission for diligently carrying out the task assigned to them despite the multiple difficulties they faced.
The intermediate study stated that a total of 7,504 bighas (1,898 hectares) of land are being encroached upon by 303 Satras (Vaishnavite monasteries) spread throughout the State.
The research indicates that Barpeta district has the most Satra land that has been encroached upon, followed by Lakhimpur and Nagaon districts, according to the Chief Minister. Satras are also severely encroached upon in the districts of Bongaigaon and Dhubri, he added.
The Chief Minister claimed that the commission was the first of its kind to address the problem of Satra land encroachment in his remarks.
The interim report shall now be administratively reviewed and follow-up action, in accordance with the law of the land, will be taken the CM had said.