File picture of a house demolished as part of an eviction drive near Silsako Beel

Sept. 22: A panel formed to find a permanent solution to the city’s encroachment problem has sought legal opinion from experts regarding the plausibility of handing land patta to people living on the hills and wetlands.

The 15-member Bhumidhar Barman-led committee was set up after violence broke out during a rally, spearheaded by the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti and the All Guwahati Matipattakaran Dabi Samiti, to protest an eviction drive on the hills.

Police were forced to open fire, leaving three persons dead and several others injured.

Assam government spokesperson and education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today said the committee has sought legal opinion on seven subjects which cropped up during discussions with at least 48 organisations and citizens’ groups that have been demanding that eviction drives be stopped and land patta be handed to the people.

“The committee was constituted to find a permanent solution to the city’s land problem, but it found that some legal issues might come in the way of giving land patta to people. The committee will seek legal opinion regarding the Forest Dwellers Act of 2005, the Wetland and Forest Acts and other guidelines of the Supreme Court or any other legal issues, because we want to make sure that the government does not have to face any legal hassles in the process,” Sarma said.

Barman, the veteran MLA and agriculture adviser to chief minister Tarun Gogoi, who heads the committee, said the groups and NGOs, during discussions suggested that those who have been staying on the hills for the past 15 years should be given land patta while others were in favour of granting patta to those staying for the last 10 years. Some groups also suggested that all those living on the hills should be given patta for a permanent solution.

“We want a permanent solution and hence we are seeking opinions from all groups,” Barman said.

Asked about the committee’s meeting with KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi last Sunday, he said, “We wanted to consult everybody involved in the land issue and even the chief minister also insisted on talks with all to resolve the land issue for good.”

The meeting with Akhil Gogoi was held despite Dispur’s earlier announcement that those who were involved in the June 22 incident would be kept out of the discussions.

So far, the committee has consulted 48 organisations in this regard.

“During discussions, the citizens’ groups have agreed that they will not protect the people who try to encroach anew on the city hills and wetlands,” he said.