Assam reclaims 200 hectares of land from Mizoram encroachers

GUWAHATI- The Assam government on Wednesday informed the state assembly that it has reclaimed 200 hectares of land in Inner Line Reserve Forest from encroachers of Mizoram a few days ago. The state government had last month said in the House that nearly 1,800 hectares of Assam land have been encroached by the people of neighbouring Mizoram, reports PTI .

In reply to a query by AIUDF MLA Suzamuddin Laskar, Border Area Development Minister Atul Bora said that the Forest Department in association with the Assam Police cleared 200 hectares of land inside Inner Line Reserve Forest.

Bora also said that miscreants from Mizoram set ablaze 27 houses at Jalnacherra village in Hailakandi district of Assam on February 9 this year, affecting 20 indigenous families. He further informed the House that miscreants also torched a few houses on July 25 at Bilaipur-Dhalcherra of Hailakandi.

In Hailakandi district, around 1,000 hectares of Inner Line Reserve Forest have been encroached by people from Mizoram for a long time, Bora said. On July 12, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had told the Assembly that nearly 1,800 hectares of Assam land spread across three districts have been encroached by the people of Mizoram.

Out of this, the largest area of 1,000 hectares has been encroached in Hailakandi district, followed by 400 hectares in Cachar and 377.58 hectares in Karimganj, he had said. A clash between police forces of Assam and Mizoram on the disputed border area in Cachar district on July 26 left seven people – six Assam Police personnel and a civilian – dead and over 50 others injured.

In a written reply to a separate query by AIUDF MLA Aminul Islam on Wednesday, Bora said that Assam shares 884.9 km border with Meghalaya, 804.1 km with Arunachal Pradesh, 512.1 km with Nagaland, 204.1 km with Manipur, 164.6 km with Mizoram, 127 km with West Bengal and 46.3 km with Tripura.

Assam also has a 267.5 km long international border with Bangladesh and 265.8 km with Bhutan, the minister informed the House.