In the first part, we looked at how evictions in the Silsako Beel area of Guwahati not only destroyed homes but also the lives of thousands who had been living there for years. In the second part, we look at why people take such big steps even when they know of the impending risks, and what the government can do to avoid such mishaps.
Whether government officials or those evicted, everyone agrees that the conmen selling Eksonia plots have ties with influential political leaders and local police stations that help them in selling the same Eksonia land to different parties. Friends in high places like the Mandal office or the police station help them acquire the land and sell plot after plot to naïve buyers or wealthy ones with a dream of building a home in Guwahati, whatever the cost may be.
Such is the demand and supply structure and often, the same plot is sold to multiple parties leading to disputes. “Authorities offer no resolution and work hand-in-glove with brokers for a payment. Multiple parties buy a piece of land but in reality, no sale takes place because, well, this land cannot be sold since it belongs to the government,” alleged one evictee.
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“These men have fled. I can’t name them but these people have good ties with influential political leaders and local police stations. You can avail of their identities at the Noonmati police station. They are on good terms with a few officials at the police station and have paid them to ignore such disputes. The police tell both parties that it can’t intervene in disputes over Eksonia lands as it isn’t heritable or transferrable,” alleged Pramod Sinha, one of the several evicted from the Silsako Beel area.
believing that it might just work out in the long run as it has for many others residing on wetlands or forest hills of Guwahati.
The con landowners have other things in their favour too. They sell Eksonia land at a fraction of the price quoted for ‘legal’ land. By offering land in Rs 1 lakh-Rs 5 lakh range at a time when a similarly-sized land could cost up to Rs 20 lakh- Rs 50 lakh in other parts of Guwahati, they lure migrants who dream of a home in Guwahati, even if it entails a series of risks.
Many buyers are given the false hope that once a family successfully occupies land for 20 years and pays land revenue, they can apply to convert the land to Miyadi patta. Of course, luck goes a long way too: had this government not insisted on claiming to protect wetlands, maybe the Silsako Beel encroachers had been spared and someone else would have paid the price.
“A land broker who deals with illegal transfer of land will not come to you advertising that I do this for a living. You’d have to go and seek a person like that. If you want to buy land, you won’t find people on the streets advertising this. So, you would probably go and look for a Mr X who will give you land in lieu of some money. I don’t blame the land mafia. If you’re willing to be taken for a ride, you know it’s going to be risky and you still go ahead and build your home there,” said a GMDA official who clearly had little sympathy for the evictees.
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Are evictees naïve or simply risk-takers?
It is also no secret that even among evictees, some suffer much more than others.
Officials part of the recent evictions told EastMojo, “One 4-storied house belongs to a person who works in the education department in Lakhimpur. He knew he was occupying a protected wetland area. You can’t say he was naïve and bought the land being clueless that it’s a Sarkari plot. Where did he get the money to buy that plot? There are senior IAS officers, police officers and government officials who’ve built homes there. Would you think somebody who is a government official would not know that he’s built his house on a Sarkari plot? It’s not possible at all. They take a risk and hope that it might just work in the long run. But it doesn’t, it will not. Not on a protected water body.”
A source in the GMDA says, “A lot of people went to court after the recent evictions in March against us, claiming that they have holding numbers so they can’t be called encroachers. They claimed there is some understanding with the government that they live there. They say ‘Why didn’t you check our building permissions before you gave us holding numbers?’ The problem with GMC holdings is that it’s done online. You can’t tell if the submitted documents are authentic. It is a citizen-friendly system and assists citizens in paying their holding numbers without any hassle. Citizens aren’t supposed to be cheating or misleading us. They’re supposed to upload authentic documents. But here we are dealing with a group of people who actually claim that they own documents of living here before 2008.”
The source added: “I don’t blame the system per se. But we should have more checks and balances to see the government isn’t being cheated or misled. It might even be just one person giving out holding numbers to everybody for a commission. There is no cross-checking there. The system isn’t one where if the number is repeated twice or more, the government is notified or alerted or shown a red flag.”
Also Read | Assam govt says over 8.57 lakh people encroaching 5,404 sq km of land
Did poor people get targeted unfairly?
A source in the GMDA said the biggest challenge lay in moving people out of the main (water body) channel. “We didn’t want a confrontation, we only wanted (to clean) the channel. We figured that if we went into confrontation and everything went into litigation, the project would be delayed by years. Ideally, we were looking at a big enough channel for the water to be evacuated through that channel into Bondajan. When we informed the locals about clearing an area of 100 m on either side, people criticised us: ‘Why 100, Why not 50’ they asked.”
“Many are poor, yes. But what about those who have fancy shops along the VIP Road? A large part of that is also on beel land. They are the ones who are holding on to it. They are the ones who think they can put political pressure on us but it doesn’t work and won’t work anymore. The CM is now clear that nobody stays there anymore because we can’t put at risk the lives of thousands of lakhs of people who live in Guwahati only because 4000 people have encroached on the river. He started calling it a river, which it is basically,” he added.
Talking about the progress made, the source pointed out: “When we went in for our first encroachment drive last year, we barely were able to recover around 70 bighas of land. Then this year we started with 300-350 bighas, now we have reached 650 bighas and we are looking at 400 bighas more. So, if we get 1,000 bighas, then we are looking at a big gigantic lake as the government’s plan.”
Also Read | Assam: Is BJP’s claim of encroachment on 10,000 bigha Sattra land hollow?
‘Our hands are dirty too’
GMDA officials believe their department is to be blamed partially, if not equally, for this fiasco. One source who did not wish to be named said, “We (GMDA) are authorised to give building permissions, right? The GMDA issues building permits for Guwahati and the entire metropolitan area. These houses and buildings came up over the years. Did we once go there and ask them if they have permission? It’s impossible that they’d have permission because the land belongs to the government. You can’t have building permissions over such land. We could have done that. But we didn’t and instead sat over it and encroachments multiplied. The GMDA has site engineers for various areas. There are divisions to monitor the government land area. I think GMDA should have and could have done better and we could have avoided the dire consequences we witnessed.”
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The GMDA had made it clear that compensation, not resettlement, is on the table. “That (compensation) is a political decision. We want everyone out. As per our calculation, 50-60 families are claiming residence in the area before 2008. They would receive compensation. As for the people who fraudulently sell land, evictions are the best thing to happen for them. Every time we drive them out, they get vacant land to sell it to someone else again. Every time we evict, it gives the conmen more opportunity to make money. Unless we do the evictions and ensure that the evicted area stays clear of encroachments, this won’t work,” said a source.
For now, however, it seems evictions are here to stay. The larger question is: which area is next?
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