Eviction drive at Dohikata tomorrow to free 1143 bighas

Guwahati: A large-scale eviction drive will be carried out at Dohikota Reserve Forest in lower Assam’s Goalpara district to free 1,143 bighas (152 hectares) allegedly encroached upon by 588 families, who do not belong to any tribal community.This is 9.2% of the total area of the reserve forest.The drive will be carried out by the forest department with the help of the district administration on Nov 9 and 10.It will be a major eviction drive, following a similar one in Paikan Reserve Forest in the district in July, where 1,080 families illegally occupying 605 bighas (81 hectares) of forest land were evicted. The Dohikata Reserve Forest is located about 14 km from the Paikan Reserve Forest and 4 km from the Brahmaputra.Goalpara divisional forest officer Tejas Mariswamy said the Dohikata Reserve Forest is spread over a total area of 12,349 bighas (1,652 hectares) of land, of which 1,143 bighas are currently under encroachment. He added that 588 families have been illegally occupying the land. “Notices were served upon them to vacate the land. Most of them have already vacated the land. These people do not belong to any tribal community,” he added.

He said the forest department, with the help of the district administration and the police, has made all the preparations for the eviction. Sufficient police personnel have been deployed to ensure smooth execution. Officials said the upcoming drive is part of the state govt’s broader campaign to free govt land and forest areas from illegal settlements. This is in line with CM Himanta Biswa Sarma’s emphasis on “zero tolerance” toward land encroachment across Assam.It may be mentioned that during the eviction drive in the Paikan Reserve Forest, a clash broke out between police and the settlers. The evicted people pelted stones at the police personnel and attacked them with sticks. Later, police resorted to lathi charge and opened fire, resulting in the death of a civilian. On Jun 16, over 600 families, mostly Bengali-origin Muslims, were evicted from Hasila Beel village in the district.