Editorial

Forests on the border

Encroachment on reserved forests along Assam’s inter-state boundaries has remained a concern for several decades.

Sentinel Digital Desk

Encroachment on reserved forests along Assam’s inter-state boundaries has remained a concern for several decades. Assam government reports on the inter-state border issues are full of details alleging how reserved forests on the border areas have been systematically encroached upon, often even under official patronage from the other sides. While this issue also finds prominence in the proceedings of several cases taken up by the Supreme Court on Assam’s inter-state border issues, it was in connection with a PIL filed in 2023 that the Gauhati High Court directed the governments of Mizoram, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh to submit their respective affidavits within six weeks stating as to what measures they have taken to remove encroachments of forest lands along their borders with Assam. It is another matter that Mizoram, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh (and, for that matter, Meghalaya too) have their own perspectives and points to dismiss claims by Assam that large tracts of land belonging to the latter state have been encroached upon by them. But the proceedings of the immediate PIL being taken up by the Gauhati High Court reportedly reveal that the division bench of the High Court, comprising Chief Justice Vijay Bishnoi and Justice Suman Shyam, has not been satisfied with the affidavits submitted by these three states, as their affidavits stopped short of giving details as to how they would make the encroached forest lands bordering Assam free from encroachment. In this connection, it is significant to note that the Assam Advocate General has submitted before the Court that the Assam government made attempts to free the encroached Inner-Line Reserve Forest areas along the Assam-Mizoram border but could not free the encroached forest areas because of resistance from people from Mizoram. Media reports quoting official sources in the Assam government say that Arunachal Pradesh has encroached upon 16,144 hectares, Mizoram has encroached upon 3679 hectares, and Nagaland has encroached upon 59,490 hectares of Assam land, and that most of the areas belong to forest reserves. The non-resolution of inter-state border issues between Assam and three other states—Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and Mizoram—for several decades has caused immense problems for all four states. While people living close to the interstate boundaries have been living under fear and apprehension, there has been considerable loss of life and property. In most cases, those portions of interstate borders that have experienced tension and violence are reserved forest areas, which, in turn, have been cleared of valuable forest resources. While steps taken to settle issues in certain pockets of the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh and Assam-Meghalaya inter-state borders in recent times appear to have reduced tension for the moment, the Assam-Mizoram border too has remained incident-free after the July 2021 incident. Such steps should prove fruitful if the solutions turn out to be long-lasting. It was only last week that Assam and Mizoram had a very cordial discussion on the inter-state border issue.