Manipur govt demolishes 69 illegal houses in Waithou Protected Reserve Forest

In a recent development, The Manipur Government on Sunday carried out an eviction drive and demolished 69 illegal houses constructed within the Waithou Protected Reserved Forest in the Thoubal district of Manipur. 

Speaking to the media, the District Forest Officer of Thoubal, Th Lokendro said, “As many as 69 houses were completely demolished as the eviction of illegal structures within the Waithou Protected Reserved Forest area under the Thoubal Forest Division.”

Th Lokendro further said, “Dismantling of illegal structures in Waithou Protected Forest Area and others will be taken up phase-wise. Over 180 illegal encroachers were found settling in the Waithou forest area. As many as 71 illegal pattadars were served show-cause notice and 69 structures were evicted.”

The eviction drive comes three days after Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh convened a joint meeting with officials of the forest and revenue departments. During the meeting, Singh had rebuked the officials over instances of overlapping jurisdiction of land between forest departments and allotting land to encroachers illegally.

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh Tweeted, “Eviction of illegal encroachments in reserve forests is underway in Thoubal district. The state government has initiated a drive to take action against all the encroachments in different parts of the state.”

According to the Thoubal Forest division, the eviction was carried out after “encroachers” failed to give “proper justification” as to why they should not be evicted from the forest land. The eviction notice was returnable on June 3.