Forest land being cultivated by settlers. Picture courtesy Asian Rhino and Elephant Action Strategy Programme, North Bank Landscape, Tezpur, Assam

If Amitabh Bachchan loses his land near Lonavla, here’s a far better place where he might consider building a farmhouse.

The Sonai Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam.

Sprawled along the Eastern Himalayas’ foothills, covered with grassland and forests, it can give Lonavla a run for its money for scenic beauty.

Bachchan would wake up to the twitter of birds he has never seen and, if he’s lucky, watch wild elephants frolic or deer drink from a jungle pool from the verandah of his hilltop bungalow.

Add to the serene surroundings the mental peace — no officious SDOs demanding to know his antecedents. And civilisation isn’t too far away: Guwahati is about a 200-km drive and Tezpur, the Sonitpur district headquarters, just 20-odd kilometres.

Pranab Basumatary, who made the sanctuary his home a few months ago, vouches for its attractions. He isn’t the only one.

Of Sonai Rupai’s 220 square kilometres of protected area, about half is under occupation by illegal settlers. According to the state forest department, their number is at least 12,000.

Forests and grassland that were once the playground of the bison, one-horned rhinoceros, leopard and the tiger have been replaced by lush fields of mustard and paddy, swaying in the breeze from the Arunachal Pradesh mountains.

The encroachers have built entire villages of thatched houses and set up small markets. They carry on with their daily lives without fear while political parties count their votes, the timber mafia their “protection money” and the middlemen their cut.

The price of land should be small change for a mega star — Rs 2,000 upwards for a small plot — and the best part is that no papers, genuine or forged, are required. Most of the settlers are poor villagers who have lost their land to floods and erosion — they can hardly pay more.

“The price can be negotiated. You contact the right person and you have a plot to build a home on and cultivate. It’s as simple as that,” reveals Basumatary who, unlike Bachchan, is a farmer.

But one doesn’t have to pretend to be a farmer to buy land here. A buyer may, however, consider passing himself off as a Nepali, Adivasi or Bodo — hardly a problem for a fine actor with access to the best make-up artists.

The encroached areas have been earmarked as “Adivasi area”, “Nepali area” and the like, with settlers from different ethnic groups organising themselves along community lines. Not only can such segregation be wise in an ethnically sensitive region, it also staves off any attempts at eviction.

“They even possess illegal arms,” a forest official said. “We require constant vigil which is impossible for want of manpower. Twenty people cannot do anything against this organised and armed group.”

But with the politicians providing patronage, officials at the Kalamati range office admit that they are up against a wall.

Unlike Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh, a buyer may have little to fear from a change of government, for the encroachment has been going on for two decades through several shifts of political power. It has been worst under the current Congress government, though.

The 1980s saw some political migration by the Bodos but in 1990, the forest cover was still 97 per cent. Between 2001 and 2005, 35 per cent of it had gone. The worst affected were the central areas of Batasipur and Golai.

The forest department and the Sonitpur district administration meet regularly and talks have been held with the army. Not much has come of it. Some eviction has been carried out but the encroachers are usually quick to return.

Forest officials say wildlife is still available in “viable” numbers.

“Except for the pygmy hog which seems to have disappeared, many species like the elephant are still there. The northern areas that merge into the Arunachal forests serve as refuge for them,” an official said.

All are welcome

As you drive past the army barracks into the sanctuary on the road that ends up in the Arunachal foothills, even from the outside you can see people carrying bamboo poles on their backs to build houses. Middlemen approach you, asking if you plan to settle down and quoting land prices.

“People enter and leave the sanctuary at will; there’s no stopping anybody,” says Dinesh Boro, 18, a settler.

Most of the houses are thatched with bamboo walls; some are slightly more upmarket with RCC beam pillars and CG sheet roof. Any celebrity or tycoon who builds the first bungalow here can happily watch fashionable society turn green with envy.

The settlers live mainly by growing paddy, mustard or vegetables, though some are engaged in illegal timber and firewood extraction.

A typical market has 10 to 20 small shops taking care of the basic needs. Some vendors from outside visit the weekly markets. Supplies are also ferried from nearby towns by bicycles, motorbikes and even public buses.

The roads are rough and potholed, but a good road is expected to come up soon connecting National Highway 51 from Thelamara in Assam to Tenga in Arunachal Pradesh, offering a dream SUV ride through forested mountains.

There is no electricity or water supply, but even the settlers can afford batteries. They use them, among other things, to illegally operate electric fences that protect their crops and homes from the elephants.

Every cluster of villages has a hospital or school within reach just outside the sanctuary.

On the whole, Samiran Kisku, 21, who lost his home to floods in a neighbouring district, is satisfied with his life in Sonai Rupai.

“People like us don’t mind staying anywhere — we don’t care if it’s a wildlife sanctuary or if it’s illegal. We are happy to have a home almost for free… our leaders are here to support us.”

The settlers are politically savvy: almost everyone has political affiliation. But most say they vote for the ruling party, which is best placed to offer protection.

The politicians have been making the appropriate noises. In the last budget session of the Assembly, forest minister Rockeybul Hussain assured members that “the government would punish the officials found indulging in destruction of forest”.

But there are few takers. Some 3,000 sqkm of the state’s 12,513-sqkm forest land — about 24 per cent — is under encroachment.

The central empowered committee formed by the Supreme Court to deal with the country’s dwindling forests blames lack of political will for states’ failure to stop and remove encroachment.

“We are trying our level best,” Assam chief wildlife warden M.C. Malakar said.