GUWAHATI, May 17 ? Almost all the 23,191 bigha, 4 katha and 6 lechas of settlement area of the Government land in Guwahati city is under encroachment. The city has in all 24,283 bighas of Government land which include khas, ceiling surplus and VGR land. The city has two revenue circles ? Guwahati and Dispur. All Government land under the Guwahati Circle, including 110 bighas of hilly land in Kharghuli area, are under encroachment, said official circles here today.
However, it is worthmentioning here that the official documents have treated 4,500 bighas of Government land in the city area unfit for settlement for its being hilly and also two ceiling surplus areas measuring 2,500 bighas and 1,397 bighas have been kept out of the list of settlement area for their being hilly and under litigation, said the sources. The Hengrabari Reserved Forest (RF) area, in which the State Forest Department is continuing its drive to free the forest area from encroachers, since yesterday, was notified on June 29, 1966. The total area of the Hengrabari RF is 2877.6 acres which include the villages of Hengrabari, Hengrabari No. 2, Madgharia and Madgharia Non-Cadestal, said the sources.
The Forest Department continued its eviction drive in the Hengrabari RF area today also using two elephants. Altogether 55 houses, including 15 RCC structures, were demolished by the eviction party, led by DFO, Kamrup East Division. One SDM and several revenue officials accompanied the party. It is noteworthy that most of the people in the area demolished their houses on their own, said official sources here. The Kamrup District administration today conducted a drive against the encroachers on the Gauhati University (GU) land near the Jalukbari Railway Bridge (Katiadalang) and inside the main campus of the University. Excavators were pressed into service during the operation, led by the SDC, Guwahati, and over 50 houses were demolished, the sources said, adding, the operation will be continued.
The Post-Graduate Students? Union (PGSU) of GU, in a press release here this evening, said that it was because of its pressure on the GU authorities took the initiative to prevail upon the district administration to free the GU land from encroachers. Hundreds of GU students came out in the open waving banners and placards in support of the district administrations? drive today. The PGSU also demanded adequate punitive measures against the GU Officer on Special Duty Dinesh Kakati and GU Engineer Ramani Sarma, placing them under suspension, for their going against the interest of the University during the anti-encroacher drive. The GU students? body has also submitted a memorandum to the GU Vice-Chancellor on the issue, the PGSU press release said.
Meanwhile, Sri Dilip Kumar Saikia, MLA, who is also the secretary of the AGP Legislature Party, today sent memorandums to the Prime Minister, Union Minister of Forest and Environment, Union Minister for Disinvestment and In-charge of North East and Chief Minister, demanding comprehensive steps to free the State?s forest areas from encroachment and also to prevent future encroachments in these areas. Sri Saikia in his memorandums, also called upon the Union Government to send a high level Central team to the National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries and Watershed Areas (WSA) of the State so as to verify the claims being made by the State Government in matters of evicting the illegal settlers from the forest lands of the State.
A total of more than 143 square kilimetre of land falling under different National Parks (NPs) and Wildlife Sanctuaries of the State are under encroachment and many of the encroachers are of doubtful citizenship, Sri Saikia claimed. He also gave the break-up of the areas under encroachment as ? Kaziranga NP?50 sq.km, Manas NP?17 sq.km, Dibru-Saikhowa NP?3 sq.km, Nameri NP?5 sq.km, Orang NP?8 sq.km, Pabitora WSA?2 sq.km, Laokhowa WSA?4 sq.km Burachapor WSA?28.50 sq.km, Barnodi WSA?6 sq.km and Sonai-Rupa WSA?19.50 sq.km. Lakhs of people of doubtful citizenship, have constructed either permanent or semi-permanent dweling houses in these encroached areas of the forest land. Moreover, some of the sitting and ex-Ministers and MLAs of the Congress party have clandestinely established tea gardens also in the name of their relatives in areas originally falling under forest land, Sri Saikia alleged.