The Assam government is carrying out a massive eviction drive in the Burhasapari area in Sonitpur district. The local administration along with police personnel are clearing out nearly 2,000 acres of land that they claim were encroached upon.
Houses are being demolished and swathes of vegetable fields are being cleared out in the anti-encroachment drive. Several JCBs were brought in to carry out the eviction drive.
The demolition drive is being carried out in three zones by the local administration. Today is the second day of the eviction drive.
Pankaj Bora, Circle Officer, Tezpur Sadar, told reporters that 1892 hectares of land have been encroached and are being cleared. Almost 2500 families live here. As of now the eviction is planned for 3 days, but if needed, we will continue the drive for as long as it takes."
Residents expressed their displeasure in the drive and claimed they would soon be homeless and landless.
“We are poor people. Where will we go? I stay in this chapori. We are landless,” a resident said.
Another resident claimed that he has given land to a school nearby and that the school has now been demolished. “Where will the children go now? I have been staying here for the last 40 years," the resident said.
Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had earlier said that the Assam government would carry out more eviction drives like these to clear out forest areas that have been encroached.
“We will have zero tolerance for those who have encroached on government land," Chief Minister Sarma had said.
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