Assam villagers resist excavation for flood mitigation project

GUWAHATI

The police in eastern Assam’s Jorhat district have served a notice to a Raijor Dal leader, an Indian Institute of Management alumnus, for allegedly instigating villagers to resist excavation for a flood mitigation project.

Farmers and members of the fishing community living around a network of wetlands, including Kenduguri Beel and Kawoimari Beel, have been opposing a project to excavate about 1,700 bighas (561 acres). These wetlands, within 5 km of the southern bank of the Brahmaputra River, are in the district’s Teok area.

The protest intensified almost a month after the villagers submitted a memorandum to the Jorhat District Commissioner on January 20, demanding a halt to excavation activities under the ‘Flood mitigation by capacity augmentation of wetlands’ project, allegedly without any public hearing, environmental impact assessment, or social impact assessment.

The villagers demanded that the detailed project report be made public. They also sought transparency in the project that affects the livelihoods of hundreds of farming families and alters a natural wetland ecosystem crucial for flood mitigation and groundwater recharge.

The protest took a turn on Friday (February 27, 2026) when the police in Teok issued a notice to Debanga Sourav Gogoi, a spokesperson of the Akhil Gogoi-led Raijor Dal, based on a first information report. Several sections under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including those dealing with extortion and rioting, were slapped against him.

He has been asked to appear at the police station on March 1.

The protestors said the police visited Mr Gogoi’s residence in a village under the Teok police station twice at midnight since the FIR was lodged a few days ago. “He is being singled out for raising procedural and environmental questions. This is nothing but political targeting and intimidation,” a local Raijor Dal member said.

The Teok police did not receive calls. No official statement has been issued to address the villagers’ allegations, who fear that the project, which is presumed to create a vast reservoir, could spell disaster for them in the long run.

The area has been flood-free, except for a single event in 2017.