Guwahati: The Assam administration on Tuesday launched an eviction drive to remove encroachments from over 105 acres of government land in Nagaon district, targeting illegally dug ponds and embankments blamed for recurring flooding in the area, officials said.
The operation was carried out across multiple locations under the Dhing Revenue Circle, including Salnabori, Tuktuki, Bherberi Beel, Ahom Gaon, Roumari Beel, Moiradhaj Katahguri, Akarabari and Magurmari Beel.
Authorities said the land had been encroached upon for unauthorised fisheries, with large ponds excavated across natural streams and wetlands.
More than 250 security personnel were deployed to maintain law and order during the drive.
District officials said the focus of the operation was the demolition of illegal embankments and as many as 565 ponds that were obstructing natural water channels, causing waterlogging, damage to rural roads and what residents described as “artificial floods”.
Nagaon District Commissioner Devashis Sarma, who visited the eviction sites, said people from nearly 15 revenue villages had been suffering for several years due to flooding triggered by blocked waterways.
He said clearing the encroachments was necessary to restore the natural flow of water and provide relief to affected villages.
Officials said around 200 families managing the illegal fisheries had already vacated the area, as they have homes elsewhere in the district.
The eviction teams initially faced difficulties deploying heavy machinery because of the narrow and marshy terrain, prompting the administration to engage over 100 labourers to dismantle embankments manually using basic tools.
Bulldozers and other equipment were later brought in as access improved.
Sarma said the eviction drive would continue until December 19 and could be extended if required to ensure the entire area is cleared and local residents are protected from flooding.
This marks the second eviction exercise in Nagaon district within a month.
On November 29, the administration had carried out a two-day drive to clear encroachments from 795 hectares of reserved forest land in the Lutimari area, affecting more than 1,500 families.
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Eviction drives have resumed across Assam since June 16 this year, with officials stating that over 5,000 families have been affected statewide.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has maintained that the government will continue such operations, claiming that more than 160 square kilometres of land have been freed from encroachment since his government assumed office in May 2021.
The chief minister has earlier said that unauthorised occupation of forest land, village grazing reserves, professional grazing reserves, satras, namghars and other public land would be removed in a phased manner.
Many of those displaced in the eviction drives, largely Bengali-speaking Muslims, have maintained that their families settled in these areas decades ago after losing land to erosion along the Brahmaputra river.
