Guwahati: The Kolkata bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Assam government to remove encroachments from 4,240 hectares of forest land in the Kamrup (Metropolitan) district, including Guwahati, by the end of December 2026.
The order was issued recently by the NGT bench comprising justice B Amit Sthalekar and expert member Arun Kumar Verma.
According to the official order, the bench has instructed the Assam Chief Secretary and the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) to ensure swift action and submit a comprehensive action-taken report on the complete clearing of the encroached area by December 31, 2026.
“Take expeditious steps for the removal of the encroachments and ensure that the entire area of 4240.04 hectare of encroached forest land in Kamrup (M) is cleared of all encroachments,” the order stated.
The NGT’s intervention originated from a suo motu application filed by its New Delhi bench in November of the previous year.
This action was based on a concerning news report published in a Guwahati-based newspaper highlighting the extensive encroachment on forest land in the district.
The NGT subsequently transferred the case to its eastern zone branch in Kolkata later that month.
The news report mentioned that a substantial portion of forests in the district had been encroached upon, adding that the encroached area includes ecologically important hills such as Fatasil, South Kalapahar, Jalukbari, Gotanagar, Hengrabari, Sarania, and Garbhanga, which are within and the periphery of Guwahati, the largest city in the northeast.
Assam’s Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and Head of Forest Force submitted an affidavit in March of this year.
The affidavit acknowledged that the Kamrup (M) district has 12 reserved forests covering 28,380.09 hectares, with approximately 4,240.40 hectares currently under encroachment.
Notably, the encroachments are mainly in South Kalapahar, Fatasil, Hengrabari, Gotanagar, Garbhanga, Marakdola, West Apricola and Matapahar reserved forests.
The affidavit stated that from 2022-23 to 2024-25, a total of 21 eviction drives were conducted in those areas and around 3.5 hectares of forest land were cleared.
