Illegal structure razed again in Assam’s Ranga Reserve, encroacher from Arunachal held
The Lakhimpur forest department demolished the structure, leading to a brief scuffle
The confrontation between the encroachers and authorities (AT Image)
North Lakhimpur, Aug 26: The Lakhimpur forest department recently carried out an eviction drive at the Ranga Reserve Forest on the inter-state boundary with Arunachal Pradesh.
A house built illegally by an encroacher from Arunachal Pradesh on forest land in the border area inside Assam was demolished by the forest authorities and its occupants were evicted.
However, the eviction drive was met with a violent confrontation by the encroachers. The occupants of the house scuffled with forest and police personnel from Assam for a while as they were being evicted from the house. They were, however, later pacified.
The main encroacher, one Tana Dadu, has been arrested by the Lakhimpur police.
According to divisional forest officer (DFO) Manoj Kumar Goswami, the site of the eviction in Denka Basti, off the river Gabharu in the Kachajuli Forest Beat of the Pann Racerve Forest under the Harmutty Forest Range, was geo-coordinated as part of Assam during the district-level visit to the inter-state boundary between Lakhimpur and Papum Pare district of Arunachal Pradesh in April this year. Nonetheless, a house was constructed by an individual from Arunachal Pradesh at the site later on.
"The house was demolished on August 16 by our department and it was rebuilt thereafter, for which we have had to evict it again after informing the revenue circle officer from Papum Pare district in Arunachal Pradesh," said DFO Goswami.
A large contingent of forest department and police personnel, along with the circle officer of the Bihpuria revenue circle and the DFO of Lakhimpur, participated in Sunday’s eviction drive.