Eviction drive clears 38 bighas of encroached land in Nagaon’s Rupahihat
Over 100 families were served notices and most vacated voluntarily as heavy police deployment supervised the operation
An image of evicted people in Nagaon's Rupahihat. (AT Photo)
Raha, Dec 5: The Nagaon district administration, in coordination with the police and Forest Department, launched a major eviction drive on Friday at Rupahihat, clearing 38 bighas of government and forest land allegedly encroached by illegal settlers.
The action comes close on the heels of a similar drive carried out in the Lutamaari area on November 29.
According to officials, the operation focused on freeing forest land under Bhakatgaon in Khatuwal Mouza. Over 100 families had earlier been issued notices instructing them to vacate the land ahead of the drive.
A massive security presence was deployed at the site, with more than 1,000 police personnel and four bulldozers pressed into service to ensure smooth execution.
Authorities said nearly 80% of the encroached land had already been vacated voluntarily, while the remaining families began to move out as the eviction progressed.
Senior officers from the district administration, police and Forest Department monitored the operation on the ground.
Some families expressed distress over the timing of the eviction. One evicted woman, worried about its impact on school-going children.
“What can we even say now? The government should have considered that school examinations are underway. Even they have children, don’t they understand this? They kept warning us to remove our belongings or the JCB would be used. We felt helpless”, the woman said.
However, a local resident supported the administration’s move, saying proper land ownership must be upheld.
“The government took the right step. If someone wants to build a house, they should buy land legally. Why encroach on government property? We also wanted the encroachment removed because we didn’t know where these people came from,” he said.
Friday’s operation follows an extensive eviction drive launched on Saturday in Nagaon’s Lutamaari Reserve Forest, where nearly 1,700 families were identified for allegedly encroaching upon 5,962 bighas of protected land.
That drive, led by the Forest Department with the assistance of over 1,000 police personnel, was carried out after notices were served three months ago asking settlers to vacate the reserve forest area.
The Nagaon administration is expected to continue similar operations in the coming weeks as part of its ongoing effort to reclaim government and forest land across the district.