Hailakandi launches eviction drive on 2,800 bighas of reserved forest land

Hailakandi, Feb 2: The Hailakandi district administration, on Monday, launched a large-scale eviction drive to clear alleged encroachment over more than 2,800 bighas of reserved forest land at Damcherra, under the Gharmura forest range along the Mizoram border.

Officials said the operation, which is scheduled to continue till February 4, initially affected 522 families. However, several households vacated the area voluntarily ahead of the drive, bringing down the number of affected families to 516.

The first phase of the eviction focused on clearing betel nut plantations, officials said.

The eviction area, comprising six forest villages, has been divided into seven sectors. Eviction was carried out in three sectors on Monday, with the remaining sectors scheduled to be taken up the following day.

“Many families are vacating the marked locations with their belongings. The administration is fully prepared. Medical teams with ambulances are on standby, and barricades have been placed on roads to ensure smooth conduct of the operation,” a local resident said.

Stressing that the operation was being conducted strictly in accordance with the law, Divisional Forest Officer (Hailakandi) Akhil Dutta said eviction notices had been issued a month in advance.

“Some residents submitted documents, but none could establish legal possession of reserved forest land. The Gauhati High Court granted them ten days to present their case, but they again produced the same documents, which were not found valid,” Dutta said.

To maintain law and order, the administration has deployed over 1,500 police and paramilitary personnel, along with around 150 bulldozers, officials said.

Dutta added that eviction is underway in sectors 5, 6 and 7 on Monday, while sectors 1, 2, 3 and 4 would be taken up on Tuesday. “If anything remains, it will be completed on the third day after discussions,” he said.

Providing further details, Dutta said Hailakandi district has two reserved forests, namely Katakhal Reserved Forest and Inner Line Reserved Forest, and that encroachments were identified in the latter.

“The encroachers failed to produce valid records. Some families moved out voluntarily, and the operation is being carried out peacefully by the administration, forest officials, police and magistrates,” he said.

Meanwhile, a local social worker from the Gharmura area, Saleh Ahmed Mazumder of the SM Humanity Educational Foundation, claimed in a social media post that several affected families had been residing on the land since 1965.

Katlicherra MLA Suzam Uddin Laskar appealed to people from all sections of society to extend support to the displaced families.

In view of the eviction drive, District Commissioner Abhisekh Jain has imposed restrictions across Hailakandi district till February 5 under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, equivalent to the earlier Section 144 of the CrPC.

Damcherra is located about 55 km from Hailakandi town.