Aroun 2,000 "illegal settlers" from 450 families were evicted from 55-60 hectares of forest land in Assam's Goalpara district on Tuesday, an official. The eviction took place in the Bandarmatha Reserve Forest, part of the Lakhipur Range, under a Gauhati High Court order to clear encroachments in the area. The operation aimed to reduce the region's significant man-elephant conflict, which is the highest in the country, officials said.
Tejas Mariswamy, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Goalpara, stated that the eviction was conducted peacefully with the majority of settlers voluntarily leaving after being informed about the boundaries. The eviction drive was supported by a large contingent of security personnel and involved civil and forest officials.
In addition to removing settlers, several government structures, including a Jal Jeevan Mission unit with an overhead water tank, were demolished. DFO Tejas Mariswamy emphasised that clearing the encroachments would facilitate afforestation efforts, making the land suitable for elephant habitation and reducing human-wildlife conflicts.
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"On an average, 25 people lose their lives in man-elephant conflict. If we want to bring down this conflict, one of the main solutions will be to clear our forest areas of all illegal settlements," he asserted.
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The eviction at Bandarmatha Reserve Forest is part of a larger operation that has already cleared 550 hectares of encroached land across nine similar drives over the past year. The administration has also conducted evictions in Nalbari and Kumarkali forests. Once Bandarmatha is fully cleared, all three forests will be connected, improving elephant movement and further mitigating the human-elephant conflict, Mariswamy added.
(With Agency Inputs)