Guwahati, Sep 1 Tension gripped the Silsako area in Guwahati on Friday after hundreds of women showed up to oppose an eviction drive by the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA).
According to the administration, at least 130 bighas of land in the area have been encroached by illegal settlers and the police were deployed to remove the encroachments.
However, in reaction to the administration's eviction drive, large-scale protests broke out, resulting in clashes between the demonstrators and the law enforcement officials. Some women protesters even tore their cloths as a mark of protest against the eviction drive.
The protesters said they would rather die than have their homes taken away from them. The women also resisted the police's attempts to disperse the crowd.
The local residents said they had nowhere to go as the government did not make any alternative arrangements for them, despite the authorities' claims that they had served the locals advance notice for eviction.
It should be noted that a magisterial investigation on the eviction drive in Silsako Beel has already been ordered. Following a request from the Assam Human Rights Commission (AHRC), the Kamrup-Metro district administration ordered the magisterial probe into the eviction drive.
Earlier in February, the Silsako Beel, a protected wetland in Guwahati, had become the target of an eviction drive by the GMDA.
The exercise resulted in the demolition of around 250 "illegally constructed" homes. The administration had scheduled to free another 130 bighas of encroached land on Friday.
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