"Freed Area More Than Size Of Chandigarh": Himanta Sarma On Eviction Drive

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday defended the state's ongoing eviction drives, stating it is essential to curb illegal encroachment, and warned the indigenous people about a growing demographic shift in the Upper Assam region. 

Addressing a press conference at Lok Sewa Bhawan, Dispur, the Chief Minister said that over the past four years, the BJP-led government has reclaimed over 160 square kilometres of land from the encroachers who have "succeeded in making Assamese people a minority in South and Central Assam." 

He further said that while conducting eviction drives, it was found that the encroachers were mostly people who owned land in their native districts, and yet moved to Assam to settle illegally in different parts of the state.  

"It's not that the people evicted are all landless. Many of them have land elsewhere but move into new areas to encroach forest lands and alter the demographic composition of constituencies," CM Sarma said. 

He added that the state government has cleared approximately 40,000 acres of encroached land from areas including forest lands, grazing reserves, tribal belts and blocks, and government-owned land.

"This area is larger than the city of Chandigarh, which is around 125 square kilometers, and approximately equal to two-thirds of South Delhi," Mr Sarma said. 

The Chief Minister also said that the intruders are targeting North Assam next, adding, "Had we acted earlier, we might have been able to stop the changes in Lower and Middle Assam. Now it has become irreversible."

"Once they become a political force, eviction becomes impossible, and this threatens the identity of the indigenous Assamese people," CM Sarma said. 

He added that the eviction drives were not only aimed at reclaiming the encroached land, but also restoring ecological balance, highlighting that the government planted lakhs of trees and recovered wildlife habitats in the cleared areas.