Guwahati (Assam) [India], August 19 : Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's vigorous campaign to reclaim lands from illegal encroachers has resulted in the successful recovery of 26 hectares in the Rengma Reserve Forest.
Sarma announced on X that the ongoing eviction drive in the Rengma Reserve Forest has reclaimed 26 hectares of forest land, equivalent to the size of 65 football fields.
Sarma wrote, "The hot pursuit continues! Our bulldozers reached Rengma Reserve Forest yesterday to pursue Part II of the eviction drive to free forest lands from encroachers. The result? 26 Hectares of Forest Land reclaimed -- enough to house 65 football fields!! The action will continue."
Meanwhile, Sarma on Monday welcomed the Gauhati High Court order directing the state government to fence forest areas to stop encroachment and said the government will carry out more eviction drives in the future.
CM Sarma said the court's decision had also prevented the Congress from announcing the return of land to alleged encroachers.
"The Gauhati High Court has delivered a historic judgement. The Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court said that the government should bring a stern regulation to prevent new encroachment. The government should take action against those government officers under whose watch a large-scale encroachment took place in forest lands," CM Sarma said at a press conference in Guwahati.
A division bench of Chief Justice Ashwini Kumar and Justice Arun Dev Choudhary ordered the state government to fence reserved forest land to prevent future encroachments. The court allowed encroachers 15 days to respond to eviction notices and another 15 days to vacate the land.
The High Court order comes weeks after it directed Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram on July 31 to form a high-level committee to clear forest encroachments along interstate borders.
Sarma alleged that large-scale encroachments happened between 2006 and 2014 during the Congress-led government and called for the punishment of those responsible.
"After this verdict, we have now become more powerful and in the coming days we can carry out more eviction drives. Today's verdict has stopped the announcement of the Congress party that they said they would return the lands after forming the government. This government will not compromise," the Chief Minister added.
"The division bench has given a guideline for future also. After this verdict, we will bring our fight forward to free the forest lands from encroachment. The High Court had already given judgement on VGR/PGR lands and government revenue lands," Sarma said.