GUWAHATI, April 10 ? Even as politicians and land grabbers are joining hands to clear Guwahati city of its green cover, the State Forest Department is having an extremely challenging task at its hands to protect over 27,508 hectares of reserve forest areas in and around the State?s capital city. Given the violent resistance put up by land grabbers at Batahkhuli area under Khanapara Reserve Forest when a team of Forest Department officials and Forest Protection Force staff went out on an eviction drive yesterday, the State Forest Department is in a soup while trying to comply with Government of India directive to clear Guwahati city of all encroachers.
Sources in the Forest Department informed that the Central Forest Department of Government of India had issued a strict directive to the Civil and Forest authorities of Assam in pursuance of a Supreme Court directive to evict all the encroachers from forest land in and around Guwahati city. Notwithstanding the resistance from encroachers backed by politicians and other anti-socials, the State Forest Department is bund by the Government of India directive to evict encroachers from forest land in the State. Sources in the Forest Department informed that as per the provisions of the State Forest Manual, a Divisional Forest Officer does not require permission from any political government or civil authority to carry out eviction drive inside a reserve forest area.
Mentionably of the total 23,424 lakh reserve forest area in the State, 2,764 lakh hectares are under encroachment, as per the official figures available. Sources informed that out of the total ten reserve forest areas in and around Guwahati city, concentration of encroachers is comparatively more in Khanapara, Fatasil and Hengrabari reserve forest areas. According to official records, the Khanapara Reserve Forest (RF) area covers 996.11 hectares, Jalukbari RF covers 97.70 hectares, Fatasil RF covers 60.44 hectares, Hengrabari RF covers 628 hectares, Amchang RF covers 5318 hectares, Gotanagar RF covers 170 hectares, Sarania Hill RF 7.99 hectares, South Kalapahar RF covers 70 hectares, South Amchang RF covers 1550 hectares and Garbhanga RF covers over 18,000 hectares of land.
Forest Department sources claim that in the latest eviction drive about 200 hectare of land under Garbhanga reserve forest area was cleared of encroachers. However, yesterday?s violent incident in Batahkhuli under Khanapara Reserve Forest served a blow to the eviction drive. All the top forest officials of Kamrup East Division and Western Assam Division today held a closed-door meeting with the civil officials of the State including the Chief Secretary in view of the yesterday?s incidents.
Meanwhile, two forest officials Mrinal Baruah and Akshay Borgohain who were critically injured after they had been assaulted by a mob of encroachers at Batahkhuli, are getting first aid in two city nursing homes. Sources informed that although the Forest Department has been carrying out eviction drive in the reserve forest areas in and around the city, it was for the first time that it faced such violent resistance from encroachers. Sources informed that the eviction drive carried out by Forest Department would be able to restore the forest cover permanently only when politicians and unscrupulous elements in State Revenue Department stop encouraging eviction in the lure of either a vote bank or the lucre.