Assam (Guwahati): The Assam government is all set to carry out a significant eviction drive in 1,200 bighas (nearly 397 acres) of land from encroachment by illegal migrant Muslims in Batadrava in Nagaon district. Hundreds of CRPF and Assam police battalion personnel have been deployed in the Hidubi area in Batadrava, the birthplace of 15th-century Vaishnavite reformer Guru Sankardev.
The eviction drive will be carried out in and around Batadrava Than from December 19, Monday and is likely to continue for several days, Nagaon Superintendent of Police Leena Doley told the media. The security personnel marched into the area on Saturday morning. Interestingly, hundreds of encroacher families have left the place, dismantling their houses after the deployment of massive security personnel. The administration publicly announced the eviction drive and asked the illegal occupants to leave the area after taking their belongings.
Nagaon police said that over 700 police and paramilitary personnel had been deployed in the greater Batadrava area, and the mobilisation of forces took place for the last 3-4 days.
The eviction will occur in around 1,200 bighas of land at various villages near the Batadrava Than under the Dhing revenue circle. Out of these encroached lands, several hundred bighas belong to the Batadrava Than (Monastery), and a few hundred bighas are government land.
District administration informed that eviction notices were sent to around 1,000 alleged encroacher families during October, asking them to clear the land.
The BJP-led Assam government evicted nearly 160 bighas of Batadrava Than (Monastery) land in 2016 after it came to power in the state. A world-class integrated cultural and research project is being constructed on the evicted land by the government at the cost of 188 crores.
The Batadrava Than Management Committee has welcomed the said eviction drive. It should be mentioned that the recently submitted Satra Land Commission report suggests that over 7000 bighas of land belonging to Satras in Assam are under encroachment in the state.
