A CORRESPONDENT
LAKHIMPUR: As a mark of continuous aggression, a huge leased out portion of Dollungmukh Firing Range of Indian Air Force (IAF) under Dullung Reserve Forest in Lakhimpur district has been encroached upon from across the border. In addition, aggressive developmental activities have been going on in the mentioned Range as there are distinct marks of massive encroachments in the land of Assam under Assam-Arunachal border areas belonging to Lakhimpur. This was revealed in information by the Lakhimpur district administration.
Notably, the venue under the aforesaid Reserve Forest with Geo Reference of N: 27° 30' 09.4" and E: 094° 14' 40’2" for PBT and N: 27° 29' 39.0" and E: 094° 13' 54.1" was leased out to 11 Wing of the Indian Air Force in 1975 for 50 years for live bombing, rocketry and gunnery firing activities. The volume of the area, which is well within the jurisdiction of Lakhimpur district, was 4150 acre or 1697 hectare when the lease agreement was inked. As per report found from the Forest Department source, over 50 hectares of area of the Range are under encroachment at present. It was determined by a survey conducted under the leadership of ACF NN Das. The source said that this aggression of encroachment began from the 8th decade of the last century and it has been going on till date, covering a period of 39 years. The district administration has earned an amount of Rs. 24,900 per annum at Rs. 6.00 for per acre.
At present, there are some schools and churches as parts of encroachment within the Firing Range as per departmental sources. This encroachment cannot be evicted due to non-completion of a proposed survey. However, the departmental source informed The Sentinel that the survey would be conducted just after the rainy season was over this year. The source added that the survey would be conducted in order to demarcate the boundary of the Firing Range by a survey team comprised of the DC of Lakhimpur, DC of Papumpare district of Arunachal Pradesh, representative of the Survey of India and Forest Department of the State.