Assam CM states 3,306 acres of land cleared in Uriamghat eviction drive
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Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Thursday that the state government had cleared about 3,305.78 acres of encroached land during the ongoing eviction drive in Uriamghat in Golaghat district.
'Prior to this eviction, we had freed 42,644.57 acres of land from encroachers, but now 45,950 acres have been cleared with the successful drive in Uriamghat,' Sarma said at a press conference here.
The chief minister also thanked Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio for his support and cooperation in the eviction drive, and the Nagaland Police and the CRPF, which were in charge of the Disputed Area Belt (DAB) area along the border to ensure neutrality during the operation.
'All have contributed and helped us to ensure the success of this eviction drive,' he said.
Reacting to the demand for a 'Miyaland' by a section of those evicted, Sarma said, 'I have no objection to this, but it will be in Bangladesh and not here. We will also help them in this regard.' 'There is plenty of land in Bangladesh, but if there is any problem there, then it can be in Afghanistan,' he said.
Regarding the ongoing survey of those residing in forest land in and around Guwahati, Sarma said a survey of non-indigenous people residing in these areas has begun to determine how many generations have been staying there.
'The survey is strictly limited to non-indigenous people, who disrupt the demography of the state. It is not related to religion, but will ascertain whether they have been residing there for three generations,' Sarma.
This will not affect the indigenous population, as they will get their land documents under the third edition of the ‘Basundhara' scheme, and the government has 'no plans to evict the indigenous people,' he said, PTI reported.
The survey will be conducted only in forest land, and not revenue land, Sarma said.
Most of those who have been evicted in the recent drives since June belong to the Bengali-speaking Muslim community, who are referred to as 'Miya' in the state.
Meanwhile, the eviction drive continued for the third consecutive day on Thursday in five villages of Golaghat district, and there was no report of any untoward incident so far, officials said.
The eviction drive, one of the largest so far to clear 1,500 hectares of forest area, once completed, will displace around 1,500 families, mostly from the Muslim community, they said.
