Goalpara: The Goalpara district administration on Monday carried out an anti-encroachment drive across five revenue villages, evicting 73 families from agricultural land in the Matia Revenue Circle. The operation began around 8 am in Harimura, Bhojmala Tengabari, Paschim Bhelakhamar, Kharija Manikpur and Jotsarwadi. Around 10 excavators were deployed during the drive, while a large police contingent was stationed in the area to maintain law and order. According to the district administration, the families had allegedly occupied land classified for agricultural use and constructed houses without obtaining the required permission to change the land-use classification. Officials also alleged that the settlements had blocked natural drainage channels and waterways used for agricultural purposes, affecting farming activities in the area.
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The administration’s action has, however, drawn concern from the affected families, who disputed the circumstances under which they settled in the area. Some of the evicted residents claimed that they had been forced to relocate after losing their homes and agricultural land to river erosion in Barpeta district. They said their ancestral properties in the Bagbor and present-day Mandia areas were washed away by the Brahmaputra in 2017, following which they purchased land and settled in Goalpara.
The latest operation is part of the administration’s efforts to clear alleged unauthorised settlements from agricultural land and restore natural drainage channels and water bodies. The eviction has once again brought into focus the difficult balance between protection of agricultural land and the rehabilitation concerns of families displaced by river erosion in Assam.
