Doubtful citizens now grabbing Assam Forest land along Nagaland border

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: The encroachment by people of doubtful nationalities has been so rampant in the state that the land grabbers have not even spared Assam’s forest lands along the Nagaland border.

Various organizations of the Dhansiri sub-division in the Golaghat district, under the banner of the Khilanjiya Aikya Mancha, have urged Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to take prompt action against the encroachers, failing which, they (the indigenous organizations) will take action against the encroachers on their own.

According to the Aikya Mancha, Assam lands meant for social forestry along the Assam-Nagaland border areas, including Sonaribeel, Dolonipathar, Rajapukhuri, Madhupur, Dayalpur, etc., under the Dhansiri subdivision have been encroached upon by people of suspected nationalities. Several hamlets with small cottages have popped up in these areas in the recent past, posing a threat to the indigenous people living there.

The severity of the threat is such that, apart from encroaching upon the lands of the indigenous people of these localities, the people of suspected nationalities serve as a cheap labour force for encroachers from Nagaland who encroach upon Assam’s plain lands and engage these people in farming on these lands. People from Nagaland, as often as not, damage the standing crops of the people of Assam along the border areas.

Four districts of Assam—Sivasagar, Golaghat, Jorhat, and Karbi Anglong—share a 512-km border with Nagaland. Assam and Nagaland have disputed land measuring around 66,000 hectares. These lands continue to remain the bone of contention between the two states.

According to the Aikya Mancha, insecurity continues to be the major cause of concern for the indigenous people of Assam living along the Assam-Nagaland border.

According to sources, the posts of border magistrates in most of the areas along the interstate borders have been lying vacant. As if to cap it all, the deployment of police personnel along the interstate border continues to remain inadequate. The officials working in these border areas have to face a whole lot of problems.

Recently, the Sivasagar DC visited the Assam-Nagaland border under Nazira Revenue Circle and assured the officials and personnel deployed there that swift measures would be taken to address the difficulties they are facing in the critical task of border security, as well as problems faced by the local population residing in the border areas.

Meanwhile, Nagaland Deputy Chief Minister Y Patton visited the Tuli area yesterday and inspected the construction of an Assam Police Commando Battalion camp at Kangtsung. People from Nagaland have been opposing the construction of the camp there. The area has been tense since the beginning of the construction of the camp. Patton appealed to the Nagaland Chief Minister and his Assam counterparts to sort out the matter through discussion.

Also Read: Removal of encroachment from forest land along Assam’s borders (sentinelassam.com)

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