North Lakhimpur: Hundreds of villagers staged a demonstration at Gelabeel, Nowboicha, along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh inter-state boundary in Lakhimpur district, demanding land pattas in the de-reserved areas of the Ranga Forest Reserve.
The protest, held at the playground of Gelabeel High School, was jointly organised by the Ranga de-Reserve Development Committee, Takam Mising Porin Kebang (TMPK), All Assam Gorkha Students Union (AAGSU), and All Adivasi Student Association of Assam (AASAA). The protesters held placards and shouted slogans during a two-hour sit-in demonstration.
Speaking to the media, Babul Tayung, a leader of the protesting villagers, said that settlers had begun occupying areas near the Ranga Reserve Forest in the late 1960s and had been paying land revenues.
“We were settled by the government in revenue villages after de-reserving parts of the Ranga Reserve Forest in 1972 with land pattas, but recently we have been unable to pay the land khazana through the online system introduced by the state revenue department,” said one protester. The de-reserve area, comprising Malowal, Asowal, Baishnabpur, Dahgharia, and Tileswari, is home to 450 households with a population of over two thousand.
The villagers expressed deep resentment over the removal of their land pattas and demanded the immediate restoration of land ownership records on the online portal.
Revenue Circle Officer of Bihpuria Revenue Circle, Jay Prakash Mahanta, visited the protesters to assess the situation. The villagers submitted a memorandum to the officer, outlining their demands to the state government.