Ticked off by Centre, Assam forest official questions no action on Mizoram encroachment

The regional office of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in Shillong issued a show cause notice to Assam's Special Chief Secretary (Forest), M K Yadava, for allegedly violating Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 by granting permission for the construction of a police commando battalion camp without seeking proper authorisation.

The Union Ministry issued a notice to the official, M K Yadava, on May 14, giving him 60 days to explain why the ministry should not take legal action against him for violating the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.

Speaking to India Today NE, Yadava claimed that he is being victimised as the show cause notice which is a private document was leaked. “I have requested the Ministry to look into the matter,” he said, further questioning, “How can a private notice be leaked? This is unethical.”

Furthermore, the special chief secretary questioned why the Mizoram government has not yet received any notice for encroachment of 5000 hectares of land. Pointing that 6 police officers of Assam sacrificed their lives, Yadava also said, “It seems that there is a vested interest circle against Assam. Why has the Mizoram government not received any show cause notice for encroachment of its land?”

He further raised concerns about the absence of any notice regarding the deaths of police officers, stressing the importance of proper action against the encroachment as well as the claiming of lives of the officers.

The notice against Yadava comes after a probe revealed construction activities spanning 44 hectares of land at Damchera within the Hailakandi district of Assam, which has been designated as Inner Line Reserve Forest. Yadava is subject to penalties as per the provisions of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Rules, 2023.

It may be mentioned that there are 6 Reserved Forests in Assam, starting from Inner Line RF under Cachar and Hailakandi Division to Tilbhum Hills RF under Karimganj Division which share boundary with Mizoram, according to a report. These RFs have a total notified area of 121046.74 ha of which, an area of 3652.28 ha has been encroached by people from Mizoram.