Golaghat: The Assam government on Monday started the second phase of eviction inside Rangma reserve forest in Golaghat district to remove encroachments from around 26 hectares of land, displacing 41 families, an official statement said.

The administration had completed a five-day first phase of the massive eviction drive at Rengma in Uriamghat along the Assam-Nagaland inter-state boundary in Sarupathar sub-division on August 2 and cleared around 9,000 bighas (over 1,200 hectares) of land of encroachments, affecting around 1,500 families, mostly from the Muslim community.

“The second phase of the eviction drive in the Rengma reserve forest commenced today, focusing on encroached areas in Haldibari,” the statement said.

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During the exercise, the authority removed 41 households, demolished 65 illegal structures and cleared nearly 26 hectares of notified forest land from encroachments, it added.

The operation, carried out by the Forest Department in close coordination with the Golaghat district administration and Assam Police, is part of the state government’s continued effort to remove encroachments from the forests.

“The action followed the issuance of due notices to the occupants and every step was executed in compliance with prevailing legal norms and environmental safeguards,” the administration claimed in the statement.

The drive was monitored by senior functionaries, including Special Chief Secretary (Forest) M K Yadava, and senior representatives from the Forest Department, CRPF, Assam Police and district administration.

“During the earlier phase, extensive drives were carried out across stretches of both the Rengma and Doyang reserve forests, successfully clearing large tracts of land from encroachments. In total, more than 1,400 hectares of protected forest land were reclaimed in that phase,” the statement said.

The government also carried out an eviction drive at Nambor South reserve forest in Golaghat earlier this month and cleared alleged encroachment from nearly 1,000 bighas (over 133 hectares) of forest land, displacing more than 350 families.

“This initiative is part of the Assam government’s sustained mission to restore encroached forest land, strengthen ecological security and safeguard the integrity of reserved forests across the state,” it added.

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