"Illegal Occupation of Assam’s Land Will Not Be Tolerated”: CM Sarma

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is in Assam on a two-day visit. During his visit, he laid the foundation stone of the new campus of the 10th Assam Police Battalion at Kachutoli. The project, to be built at an estimated cost of Rs 270 crore, is expected to significantly strengthen police infrastructure in the state.

The foundation ceremony witnessed the presence of several senior leaders, including Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, along with other ministers and legislators of the Assam government.

Addressing the gathering, Chief Minister Sarma said that few could have imagined that Amit Shah would one day visit Kachutoli for such a major development initiative. He credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Home Minister for enabling what he described as “impossible tasks” to become possible in Assam.

The Chief Minister spoke extensively about eviction drives carried out in the state, stating that large tracts of government and tribal belt land had been freed from alleged encroachment. He claimed that 708 bighas of land in Kachutoli were previously under illegal occupation and that eviction drives had now been conducted across 700 bighas in the area.

Sarma further said that the state government had so far cleared around 26,000 bighas of government land and 7,000 bighas of VGR-PGR land. He added that eviction drives had been carried out over 1.5 lakh bighas of land allegedly encroached upon by illegal Bangladeshi settlers.

However, he maintained that nearly 40 lakh bighas of land still remain under encroachment and asserted that stronger political backing would be needed to continue such drives. He said that if voted back to power, the BJP government would intensify eviction efforts and expand them to five lakh bighas in the next term.

The Chief Minister also warned against threats to Assam’s land and wildlife. Referring to rhino poaching in Kaziranga, he said that strict action has ensured that those involved in killing rhinos no longer escape punishment. He asserted that no one would be allowed to occupy Assam’s land illegally and that the state would firmly protect its territorial and ecological interests.

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