Overview
- A forest eviction team was fired on during an anti-encroachment operation on Wednesday when alleged miscreants from Arunachal Pradesh fired about 50 rounds and forced officials to withdraw with no injuries reported.
- Satellite and drone assessments reviewed by officials show roughly 400 hectares of Behali forest have been cleared or damaged over the past six months.
- Forest Minister Jayanta Mallabaruah ordered an internal probe that includes call detail record checks of Forest Range Office staff and directed police and the forest battalion to jointly secure the area, temporarily suspending further eviction drives pending a safety review.
- The government has authorised frontline officers to open fire if necessary, tasked the Ecological Task Force to begin immediate plantation and ecological restoration, and ordered upgrades to access roads and protection camps to improve rapid response.
- Behali is a biodiversity hotspot and a contested border stretch, and authorities say boundary disputes do not justify tree-felling; the new measures aim to protect wildlife corridors, deter land conversion for crops such as palm oil, and restore habitat for local communities and species.