GMDA launches eviction drive to clear Silsako Beel

GUWAHATI: Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) officials launched an eviction drive at Silsako Beel, a protected wetland in Assam. The operation began on Monday, with over 15 excavators and 3,000 armed personnel securing the site.
GMDA chairman Narayan Deka inspected the area alongside other officials before commencing the three-day operation.
Deka said the eviction of people from the entire area was not feasible in one go. However, he clarified that in the first phase, which is likely to be continued for two more days, the encroachment on a canal running through the beel would be removed, displacing nearly 250 families. The targeted area spans 100 metres on either side of the canal, where illegal construction and settlement have occurred. According to Deka, around 1,200 bighas of the total 1,800 bighas of land are under encroachment.
During Monday’s drive carried out peacefully, several temples, naamghars and mosques were also demolished, Deka added.
Silsako Beel is a crucial reservoir for stormwater runoff from Guwahati city. In 2008, the Assam government declared it a protected waterbody, prohibiting construction and settlement in the designated area.
However, some residents living in the Silsako Beel area claimed that they had been paying property taxes to the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) for years and held GMC holding numbers.
“The government should find us a solution. There was a similar eviction drive last year too. I bought this land years ago from for Rs 18 lakh. That was my hard-earned money.”
However, Deka said both selling and buying of government land is illegal.