Assam: 300 families on 1,000 bighas of govt land face eviction in Sonitpur

GUWAHATI: About 300 families occupying 1,000 bighas of government land illegally at No. 3 Sitolmari, a riverine area, in Assam's Sonitpur district will be evicted on Saturday. However, most of them have packed their belongings and left for their native places.
The district administration served eviction notices to the families last month seeking cooperation to free the government land and asking them to leave the place on their own. A senior official of the district administration on condition of anonymity said, "The families have been occupying the land for several years illegally. We have to make the land encroachment-free. Notices have been served asking them to vacate the land. They have come from different parts of the state, mostly from Morigaon and Hojai."
The district administration has already deployed police forces in the village to prevent any untoward incident during the eviction drive.
Afzul Hussain (35), a resident, said, "At least 30 families, including mine, have been living here for the last 15 years. We are originally from Moirabari in Morigaon district. After we lost our land to river erosion, we came here through a local resident about 15 year ago. Now, we have been served eviction notices. So, we are leaving the place before they evict and destroy the belongings. We urge the government to make rehabilitation arrangements for us as we do not have land."
In November last year, over 200 families at Bosasimalu village in Sonitpur's Dhekiajuli were served eviction notices asking them to leave the occupied land. However, in December, Gauhati HC, in view of its own 1989 judgment and order in a plea against an eviction drive in Dhekiajuli, asked the state not to evict the families of Basasimalu village without settling the land issue.