GUWAHATI: The Assam government has instructed all district commissioners in the state to find out the level of encroachment in the forest areas, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday. Addressing a press conference, he said the state government would make an effort to evict people from the forest areas, except those eligible for forest rights.“There are some people who are eligible (to live) even in forests. Tribal people can stay there provided they have come prior to 2005,” Sarma said, “We are going to evict those who are not covered under the Forest Rights Act,” he added. Further, he said that it would be a humongous task considering that the level of encroachment is very high and beyond imagination. “Even if we carry out one eviction drive a month, it will take at least 10 years to complete (the entire exercise),” he said.Recently, the Assam government had carried out massive eviction drives, particularly in Dhubri, Goalpara and Golaghat districts, which affected several thousand people, mostly Muslims.
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