Provide basic amenities to evicted people: Gauhati High Court tells Assam govt.

Gauhati High Court orders Assam government to provide essential amenities to 566 evicted families living in makeshift camps

GUWAHATI

The Gauhati High Court has ordered four Assam government departments to provide basic amenities to members of 566 families living in a makeshift camp since their eviction from a wetland in June 2025.

These people, mostly Bengal-origin or Bengali-speaking Muslims, were ejected from Hasila Beel in western Assam’s Goalpara district during an anti-encroachment drive.

Sixty affected people had jointly filed a petition alleging that the evictions on the grounds that the land they inhabited formed a part of the Hasila Beel wetland was contrary to the law laid down by the Supreme Court in various judgements.

The petitioners said that the members of the families, including children, have been compelled to take refuge in a compact plot of patta (title deed) land belonging to “other persons”. They also said that they have been living in a state of destitution, without potable water, sanitation, food, or proper medical care.

“...a state of humanitarian crisis has ensued, leading to deaths and suffering among the people residing in makeshift camps since the date of their eviction,” the petition read.