Guwahati, July 31: In a significant step towards protecting forest lands, the Gauhati High Court has directed the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Mizoram to jointly constitute a high-level committee to formulate a comprehensive plan to clear encroachments along their inter-state forest borders.

The directive was issued by a division bench comprising Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar and Justice Arun Dev Choudhury during the hearing of two Public Interest Litigations (PILs). One PIL was filed in 2018 by Guwahati-based NGO Asom Basaok, and another in 2023 by two residents of Sreebhumi district, both seeking the removal of illegal settlements from forest lands in Assam.

Ordering the chief secretaries and forest department heads of all four states to convene a high-level joint meeting, the court stated, “Convene a high-level meeting… for formulating a comprehensive plan for making the forest area encroachment free.” It also stressed that inter-state coordination and dialogue are essential to resolve the issue. “This court believes nothing can remain unresolved with a fruitful dialogue,” the bench remarked.

The court had earlier noted that illegal encroachments were not limited to Assam alone, but extended to forest areas along its borders with Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Mizoram. Accordingly, it added the three neighbouring states as parties to the case to ensure a comprehensive approach.

The order comes at a time when the Assam government has intensified its eviction drives against illegal occupants on forest and government lands. The latest and largest of such operations began earlier this week in Uriamghat, near the Assam-Nagaland border, targeting over 2,500 unauthorised structures spread across approximately 1,500 hectares of forest land.

The bench further emphasised that while border disputes among the states may take time to resolve, removing encroachments from forest areas must take precedence. “Border disputes would be resolved but before that, what is of utmost importance is that the forest area falling under the territorial jurisdiction of the states ought to be free of all encroachments,” the court stated.