Two-day drive witnessed the clearance of illegal settlements across crucial forest regions in the Sonitpur and Nagaon districts form 5th January. The Assam government has executed a major eviction drive at the Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuary, successfully reclaiming nearly 830 hectares approximately 6,200 bighas of unauthorized land occupation.
According to Sonitpur District Commissioner Ananda Kumar Das and Senior Superintendent of Police Barun Purakayastha said the entire operation was completed without any untoward incident. This significant operation affected about 710 families, with administrative efforts centered on preserving the sanctity of this vital ecological area.
According to officials, the alleged encroachers had constructed houses and cultivated crops within the sanctuary. While many residents dismantled their homes and relocated on their own, some remained on the land citing severe cold conditions and requested time to harvest crops. The administration, however, declined to halt the operation, stating that illegal occupation of forest land could not be permitted irrespective of the season.
the largest eviction drives carried out by the Assam administration was about 2,099 hectares of land in the Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuary and adjoining villages in February last year, affecting nearly 12,800 people. However, in July, one person was killed and at least seven others were injured in a clash between alleged encroachers and forest guards when some occupants attempted to re-enter the cleared areas.
Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuary, spread across 44.06 square kilometres on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra, is located about 180 km east of Guwahati and 40 km south of Tezpur. The sanctuary is home to wildlife including the one-horned rhinoceros, tiger, leopard, wild buffalo, hog deer, wild pig and elephants.
Its rich fauna includes the critically endangered Bengal florican, black-necked stork, mallard, open-billed stork, teal and whistling duck. The forest is an integral part of the Laokhowa–Burhachapori ecosystem and serves as a notified buffer zone of the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve since 1974 and was declared a wildlife sanctuary in July 1995.