More than 3.14 lakh hectares of protected forest land in Assam continue to remain under encroachment, despite extensive eviction drives undertaken over the past decade, Forest and Environment Minister Jayanta Malla Baruah informed the State Assembly on Tuesday.
Responding to questions during the Budget Session, the minister said that as of February 12, 2016, a total of 3,15,996.13 hectares of land in wildlife sanctuaries and reserve forests had been illegally occupied. Since then, the government has cleared encroachments from 25,588.77 hectares, including 16,937.25 hectares during the last five years.
According to the figures placed before the House, 17,421.50 hectares of land across eight wildlife sanctuaries and 2,96,717.94 hectares across 281 reserve forests are still under encroachment.
Among the protected areas, Sonai-Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary in Sonitpur district has the highest encroached area, with nearly 10,000 hectares, followed by Marat Longri Wildlife Sanctuary in Karbi Anglong with 4,429 hectares. Laokhowa Wildlife Sanctuary in Nagaon district recorded the least encroachment at 11.7 hectares.
The minister further informed the Assembly that the Forest Department has undertaken restoration measures on 2,531.2 hectares of land reclaimed through eviction drives.
Replying to another question, Baruah said Assam’s forest cover has increased by 208.55 square kilometres over the past six years. Citing the India State of Forest Report, he said forest cover expanded from 28,105 sq km in 2017 to 28,313.55 sq km in 2023, accounting for 36.1 per cent of the state’s geographical area.
The minister, however, acknowledged that human-elephant conflict remains a major challenge. Since 2016, the conflict has claimed 1,150 human lives across the state. Between January and June this year alone, 53 people have died in elephant-related incidents, while 2025 recorded the highest annual toll of 138 deaths.
Crop damage caused by wild elephants has shown some improvement in recent years. Farmers lost crops over 6,286 bighas in 2016 and 8,084 bighas in 2017, but the affected area declined to 3,519 bighas in 2025.
Damage to residential properties has fluctuated over the years, with the number of houses affected rising from 1,310 in 2016 to a peak of 1,759 in 2023 before declining to 1,139 in 2025.
The minister also informed the House that 246 elephants have died since 2016, with electrocution emerging as the leading cause of death, followed by train accidents and poisoning.
