Assam: Govt begins eviction drive in Nagaon to clear 400 acres of encroached land

The Assamese government on Monday morning carried out a major eviction drive to clear "illegal" encroachments, ANI reports.  They will clear 397 acres of land in the Nagaon district through this drive.

The affected people have appealed to the government to provide them with alternative arrangements and they will continue to cooperate with the administration, PTI reports.

ANI, on Monday, uploaded a video of a bulldozer breaking down and demolishing structures at Bhumuraguri Grazing reserve, Jamai Basti, Rampur, Kadamoni area.

More than 700 security personnel from the CRPF and Assam police battalion have been deployed at Batadraba in the Nagaon district, the site of the evictions.

The eviction would displace over 1,000 alleged encroacher families who were sent notices from district administration officials in October.

Over 80 percent of the people have dismatled their houses, shops and other structures and moved out.

Superintendent of Police of Nagaon district Leena Doley told reporters that security personnel had been camping and conducting flag marches in the area since December 13.

She mentioned that the officials have received full cooperation from locals and that the eviction is going on peacefully. The eviction drive is being carried out in four villages.

"After Santijan Bazaar we will clear land in Haidubi area and depending on the time taken there, we will take a decision on carrying out the drive in the remaining two villages," Doley said.

The exercise will continue for several days, PTI reported on Friday. The news was welcomed by the Batadrava Than Management Commitee but caused an "outcry" among local residents who were asked to leave the area and take their belongings, a source told PTI.

The eviction site is near the birthplace of Vaishnav saint Srimanta Sankardeva.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on September 12 told the local assembly that 4,449 families in Assam had been evicted for alleged encroachment since May 2021.

Prior to the state election, the BJP-led government had promised to free government land from encroachers and give them to the indigenous landless people of Assam. The clearing of encroachment of sattra land, particularly, was a major poll issue for the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Under his instructions, the district administration has been clearing the areas for afforestation and agriculture activities involving indigenous youth.

Sarma had said that the government did not carry out any investigation on the citizenship of evicted families to find out if they were Indian nationals or foreigners.

He had further stated that the government was also "not aware" if the families, who encroached upon the government land, were homeless people due to erosion, a claim that most of such victims usually make.

The chief minister had said that rights like "shelter over head" were available only for legal occupation and right to property is not a fundamental right. Right to Property was a fundamental right as per the Indian Constitution until 1978.

In 2020, however, the Supreme Court stated that property rights should be considered as a human right promised by the Constitution.

In September 2021, a mob broke out over a contentious eviction drive in Assam's Dholpur region which resulted in the death of two civillians.