Tripura assembly: Rubber grown illegally in 21,019 acres of land

Agartala: Over 21,019.32 acres of government land has been occupied for illegal rubber cultivation across Tripura, revenue minister Narendra Chandra Debbarma said in response to a query made by BJP MLA Sudhangshu Das on the second day of the sixth session of Tripura legislative assembly on Monday.

In his question to the revenue minister, Das had sought information on the total government land being occupied for illegal rubber cultivation across the state.

“The state government has already instructed all the district magistrates and sub-divisional magistrates to take required measures to vacate government land,” Debbarma said in response to the query.

He also said that the previous Left Front government had allowed people to cultivate rubber on 21,019 acres (8,506 hectares) of government land and most of the land are still occupied by those people.

In a supplementary, MLA Das said that in Unakoti district, at many places, the previous government had allocated land to their close ones and till date, no initiatives have been taken from the state government to vacate those land.

He also said that he was given the charge of chairman in the horticulture development corporation and during a recent meeting he was informed that more than 100 ‘kanis’ of land have been occupied in the Unakoti district alone.

Revenue minister Debbarma said the state government has taken the initiatives to amend the Tripura Land records and Land Reform Act, 1960 to prevent the misuse of government lands violating the law made by the government.

He also said that as per records of the revenue department, the total area illegally occupied includes 1,024.84 acres in North Tripura district, 1,429 acres in Unakoti district, 112.33 acres in Dhalai district, 359 acres in Khowai district, 1,314 acres in West Tripura district, 4,936 acres in Sepahijala district, 4,856 acres in Gomati, and 5,384 acres in South Tripura district.

At present, Tripura is the second-largest rubber producer in India after Kerala producing more than 68,000 tonnes of rubber in 85,000 acres of land.