GUWAHATI
The authorities in central Assam’s Sonitpur district on Saturday carried out a drive to evict 299 families from government land, officials said.
A solar plant is expected to come up on 330 acres cleared in the district’s No. 3 Chitalmari area with the excavators, bulldozers and demolition workers.
A district police officer said about 90% of the residents living illegally had already left the place with their belongings after receiving the eviction notice eight months ago. The operation was carried out under heavy security equipped with anti-riot gear but there were no incidents or opposition from the people.
Most of the evicted families were Bengali-speaking Muslims followed by Bengali Hindus, Gurkhas and a few tribals. Many of them were victims of erosion by the Brahmaputra River and had relocated to Sonitpur.
Special Director-General of Police (Law and Order), Gyanendra Pratap Singh told journalists that the eviction was carried out under the supervision of four senior officers. “The land has been cleared for a solar plant,” he said.
The incident-free eviction in Sonitpur was in sharp contrast to similar drives in other parts of Assam since September 2021. At least two people died after the police opened fire on people who resisted eviction in the Gorukhuti area of Darrang district a year ago.
