North Lakhimpur, March 11: Officials from the State forest department were in tenterhooks as the encroachers built structures on the disputed land in the Kakoi-Rajgarh area of Lakhimpur district on the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh inter-state boundary on Sunday.
After receiving reports of an alleged encroachment on the disputed land, a team of forest officials led by a Range Officer visited the Kakoi-Rajgarh area of Kakoi Reserve Forest of Lakhimpur only to see people from neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh were already erecting a traditional house made of bamboo and palm leaves.
On being opposed and asked to stop the construction, the alleged encroachers from Arunachal Pradesh claimed that the land belonged to them and a house had already existed there which they were reconstructing.
The forest personnel from Lakhimpur failed to take any action to halt the encroachment.
The land dispute between the two neighbouring States on their borders at Kakoi-Rajgarh in Lakhimpur district has a long and eventful history.
On March 17, 2020, Lakhimpur forest department carried out demolition drive in the Kakoi-Rajgarh area by pulling down structures allegedly built by encroachers from across the boundary in Arunachal Pradesh. The structures were constructed by Arunachal Pradesh to be used for the Nyokum festivities. The demolition drive was preceded by a firing incident from the Arunachal side just three days ago.
On December, 2021, skirmishes erupted between the Assam forest personnel and Arunachal Pradesh encroachers in the Kakoi-Rajgarh area when the former visited the boundary area from North Lakhimpur.
On January 18, 2023, people from the Arunachal Pradesh side of the boundary opposed and resisted the joint survey work by both the neighbouring States in the area.
Throughout the last year, several meetings and initiatives were carried out by both the sides to address the long-standing boundary dispute in the Kakoi area of Lakhimpur district and Papum Pare district of Arunachal Pradesh.
- By Correspondent