Assam: Potential Consequences of Granting Land Pattas to Settlers in Guwahati Hills

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: If the Assam government is to fulfil the rising demands from various organizations before Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to issue land pattas to the people residing in the 18 hills in and around Guwahati, the metropolitan city will witness an immediate ecological imbalance.

The Government of India’s guidelines allow settlement of lands on hillocks, be they revenue or forest lands, up to forty percent from the base, but not on the 60 percent of land in the upper reaches. This guideline is in the interest of maintaining ecological balance in areas infested with habitations in hills.

The Bhumi Adhikar Sangram Samiti (BASS), in an open letter to the Chief Minister, urged him to provide land rights to around 85,000 families living in the 18 hills in and around Guwahati through Basundhara 3.0, which is set to start from October 19 this year.

A retired forest official said, “Most of the hills in and around Guwahati have been encroached upon from top to bottom, leading to earth-cutting. During the rainy season, silt from the upper areas choke drains and canals in Guwahati.”

According to sources, before every election, the government also drops some sorts of hints regarding the issuance of land pattas to those settled in the hilly areas of the state. This also encourages people to encroach upon lands in hilly areas of the city.

According to the guidelines of the central government, in the case of forest lands, the cutoff year for settlement of tribal people is 2005 or before with documental evidence. In the case of non-tribal settlers, they will have to produce documentary evidence of living there for the past 75 years.

According to a forest official, people from all walks of life, like doctors, police officials, businessmen, lawyers, journalists, and others, have encroached upon lands in the hills in and around Guwahati. Land brokers are the ones who make money through the sale of occupation rights to such lands.

According to sources, around 80 percent of the encroachers are not landless. They are from the neighbouring districts of Kamrup (M), Nalbari, Barpeta, Goalpara, Nagaon, Morigaon, upper Assam, etc. A section of them has erected houses and given them to rent.

According to a top forest official, once the government issues land pattas to these settlers, they will encroach upon more lands, erect concrete houses, and continue earth-cutting, etc., spelling disaster for the ambience of the metropolitan city.

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