India, July 29 -- The Assam government on Tuesday morning launched a massive eviction drive in the Rengma forest area of Golaghat district, targeting the demolition of over 2,600 allegedly illegal structures spread over 1,500 hectares of forest land.

According to forest officials, over 4.2 hectares of encroached land were cleared on the first day, with the demolition of 50 concrete residential structures and nearly 200 small and medium-sized business establishments.

Officials said that a total of 2,648 illegal houses, spread across 12 villages within the reserve forest area, have been marked for eviction. The operation is focusing on localities including Sonaribil, Pithaghat, Dayalpur, Dalanpathar, Kherbari, Vidyapur, Vidyapur Bazaar, M...