Assam clears 638 hectares of forest land in Golaghat, Hojai and Nagaon; about 1,000 families evicted

Assam has cleared more than 638 hectares of forest land in Golaghat, Hojai and Nagaon districts in a series of eviction drives over the past few days, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Tuesday. Officials said about 1,000 families were removed from the protected areas.

“The ‘Rudra Roop’ of our administration befell upon encroachers in three districts,” Sarma wrote on social media, invoking the fierce form of Shiva. “Over 638 hectares of land has been cleared in the operation.”

The drives covered the Lutumari, Borpani and Jamuna-Moudanga reserved forests. Large contingents of security forces, excavators and administrative teams moved in over several days to pull down structures on land the government says was illegally occupied. Sarma said the government would “protect our forest ecosystems”, and the cleared land is to be handed over for plantation drives meant to restore the area’s biodiversity.

On the ground

Hojai’s Senior Superintendent of Police, Nirupam Hazarika, said the demolitions passed off peacefully and that many residents had taken down their own homes before the bulldozers arrived. A renewed drive in Hojai’s Jamuna-Moudanga forest had targeted 152 families.

The scale of the displacement has drawn criticism. Minority rights groups have raised concerns about how quickly families are being uprooted and have called for rehabilitation for those who have lost their homes. The government has not said where the evicted families are to go.

What comes next

Eviction drives are a central part of the Sarma government’s effort to reclaim land it says is encroached, including forest land, and the state argues such action is needed to protect public property. The cleared land in Golaghat, Hojai and Nagaon is earmarked for plantation, though no timetable has been announced, and no rehabilitation plan for the evicted families has been made public.