Dhubri eviction: Homes of 640 families razed, land eyed for industry

Authorities in Assam's Dhubri district demolished the homes of more than 640 families on Sunday during an eviction drive at Alamganj Part-IX village in the Gauripur revenue circle, displacing more than 4,000 people, Scroll reported, citing officials.

The drive, which NEInsider reported as it began on Sunday morning, cleared 650 bighas (about 215 acres) of land that the administration says belongs to the government.

What the district commissioner said

Dhubri District Commissioner Dibakar Nath told PTI that eviction notices had been served on about 700 families said to be occupying 800 bighas. About 150 of them, living on roughly 150 bighas, have gone to court, and since that matter is sub judice the drive did not touch their land.

Nath said many families had left voluntarily after receiving notices and that there had been no resistance. Fifty excavators, several tractor-trolleys and other machinery were deployed, backed by a large force of police and civil staff, according to PTI.

Speaking to Scroll, Nath said the cleared land would be handed over to the industries department, which had been looking for land for an industrial park for two years, though he added that the final decision lies with the state government. He also said residents had settled on the land in phases over the past five to ten years and claimed most of them owned land elsewhere.

Residents dispute the claim

Residents contested that account. An 80-year-old villager told Scroll he had lived there since 1962, after erosion and floods drove his family from neighbouring Goalpara district, and that several residents had paid land revenue under the touzi system between 1972 and 2016. Touzi receipts record payments made by occupants of government land.

He said most of the displaced families are now staying with relatives, in tarpaulin shelters along roads, or in low-lying char areas, because they have nowhere else to go. Videos shared online in the days before the drive showed families taking apart their own homes.

Part of a wider campaign

Most of those affected are Bengali-speaking Muslims. The Himanta Biswa Sarma government has carried out a series of eviction drives since 2021, which it says are aimed at clearing encroachment on government and forest land. About two weeks ago, more than 1,100 families were evicted across Nagaon, Hojai and Golaghat districts in a two-day operation, Scroll reported.

The court is next expected to hear the pending cases on November 13.