Guwahati, Jan 7: The Assam government on January 6 concluded a large-scale eviction drive to remove alleged illegal encroachments from forest land inside the Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuary, freeing around 6,200 bighas, or nearly 830 hectares, and affecting approximately 710 families, officials said. The operation, which began on January 5, was carried out across parts of Sonitpur and Nagaon districts and was completed without any reported incidents.
According to Sonitpur District Commissioner Ananda Kumar Das, the two-day exercise targeted forest land that had been unlawfully occupied within the protected sanctuary. He said the district administration successfully cleared all remaining encroachments during the drive, restoring the land to the forest department. Officials noted that nearly 40 per cent of the encroached area had already been vacated earlier, prompting authorities to move ahead with clearing the rest.
The eviction covered several locations under the Tezpur Sadar and Dhekiajuli revenue circles, including Jamuktol, Arimari, Siyalichar, Baghetapu, Galatidubi, Lathimari, Kundulichar, Purba Dubramari and Batulichar. Authorities said many of the alleged encroachers had built houses and cultivated crops within the sanctuary limits. While a number of families dismantled their structures and moved out voluntarily, some sought additional time due to the cold weather and standing crops. The administration, however, maintained that seasonal considerations could not justify continued illegal occupation of protected forest land.
Sonitpur Senior Superintendent of Police Barun Purakayastha said extensive security arrangements were made to ensure the smooth conduct of the operation. More than 300 police personnel were deployed, along with 36 excavators and 60 tractors, to assist in clearing the area and maintaining law and order. He added that the drive concluded peacefully, with no untoward incidents reported.
The latest action follows a massive eviction carried out in February last year, when around 2,099 hectares of land were cleared in and around the Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuary, impacting nearly 12,800 people. However, attempts by some occupants to re-enter the cleared areas later led to tensions, including a clash in July that resulted in one death and injuries to several others.
Located on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra, Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuary spans 44.06 square kilometres and lies about 40 km south of Tezpur and 180 km east of Guwahati. It forms a crucial part of the Laokhowa–Burhachapori ecosystem and serves as a designated buffer zone for the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve. The sanctuary is home to diverse wildlife such as the one-horned rhinoceros, tiger, leopard, wild buffalo, hog deer and elephants, along with several rare and endangered bird species. Originally notified as a reserve forest in 1974, it was declared a wildlife sanctuary in July 1995.
