Assam authorities reclaimed more than 300 hectares of encroached reserve forest land and evicted over 500 families across Nagaon, Hojai and Golaghat districts on Saturday, in one of the state’s largest single-day anti-encroachment operations in recent months.
The largest clearance took place in Borpani Reserve Forest in Nagaon, where officials reclaimed more than 200 hectares occupied by 336 families. Forest department officials said the families had migrated from neighbouring areas and settled inside the reserve forest nearly 30 years ago.
The operation is part of a wider enforcement drive across protected forest areas. An eviction drive is scheduled to begin on Sunday in the neighbouring Lutumai Reserve Forest, where around 600 families are reported to have occupied more than 300 hectares. The forest department issued a public notice in August, after which nearly 90% of the families reportedly vacated the area before the scheduled action.
A senior forest department official said around 300 families had been temporarily settled in Lutumai Reserve Forest in 1973 after being evicted from Kaki Reserve Forest in the erstwhile Nagaon district. The official said the remaining occupants were treated as encroachers and that all families were being evicted in compliance with court orders.
In Hojai district, authorities reclaimed 70 hectares in Jamuna-Maudunga Reserve Forest. The operation dismantled 152 households, including 61 pucca and 126 kutcha structures, and affected around 1,000 residents living inside the protected forest area. Forest officials said families had likely begun settling in the reserve during the early 1980s, mainly to undertake agriculture.
Residents in the Hojai settlement removed their belongings before the operation and moved to revenue land outside the protected forest area, according to the forest department. Officials said the settlements had existed for decades and that most of the families came from neighbouring villages that were part of the erstwhile Nagaon district.
The third major operation took place in Golaghat district, where around 37 hectares were reclaimed in the Doyang and Nambor South Reserve Forests. In the Negheribeel area of Doyang Reserve Forest, officials cleared 35 hectares, evicted 59 families and demolished 60 structures.
At two locations in Nambor South Reserve Forest, authorities cleared around two hectares. The operation in Rajapukhuri resulted in the eviction of three families and the dismantling of three structures, while nine families were evicted and nine structures removed in the Gelajan area.
The actions highlight the administrative challenge of managing protected forests where settlements have existed for several decades, including areas where residents were previously moved on a temporary basis. The forest department has linked the current evictions to court orders and the enforcement of reserve forest boundaries.
The next scheduled step is the eviction operation in Lutumai Reserve Forest on Sunday. The action is expected to affect the remaining families occupying the forest area after the voluntary departures that followed the August public notice.
