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| An encroached plot of land in Saralpara |
Feb 19 : Illegal settlers are turning out to be a stronger hurdle than timber smugglers in the Bodoland Territorial Council’s attempts to arrest deforestation and save the receding forest cover.
Nearly 445.02 square km of forestland under the BTC have been encroached upon and the settlers are even taking legal routes to buttress their claims.
In the past few months, vagrants have made the lush Ripu-Chirang forest their home, chopping away scores of trees and extending their “neighbourhood” to Saralbhanga river bank.
In the process, they have destroyed nearly 2,000 hectares of forestland, endangering golden langurs, Himalayan black bears and tigers.
“The forest areas are under tremendous pressure because of illegal encroachment. The problem is alarming and the existence of the beautiful and rich forests of Ripu-Chirang is under serious threat. From the ecological point of view, this forest plays a huge role for entire western part of the council area. So, at any cost, the forest must be protected,” said Haltugaon divisional forest officer Rajen Choudhury.
Some of the encroachers have gone to the court, even managing to obtain an interim order for maintenance of status quo in Saralpara forest area from Gauhati High Court.
“After the interim order, especially from October last year, 500 people from Bodo community have entered a nearby forest in Saralpara and begun clearing the jungle. By the end of November, around 3,000 hectares of forestland had been occupied by the encroachers,” Choudhury said.
The BTC deputy chief Kampha Borgoyari, who is in charge of forest department in the council, also voiced concern about the rampant encroachment.
If the trees continued to be chopped at the current rate, the entire forest cover will be wiped out the next three or four years, he said.
The BTC, however, is not willing to give up.
“Protecting the forests is the biggest challenge of the department. It is like a war we need fight at any cost,” Borgoyari said.
As a first step, forest staff have already launched an eviction drive inside Ripu-Chirang reserve forest along the Indo-Bhutan border in Kokrajhar — in areas that lie outside those mentioned in the court order.
With help from police, Sashastra Seema Bal and Bodoland Forest Battalion, the forest officials swept through Sonapur, Birpara, Gwjwnpur and Saralpara last week.