Silsako Lake

Silsako Lake (also known as Silsako Beel) is a wetland and lake located at the heart of the Guwahati city and surrounded by villages like Satgaon, Hengrabari and Mathgharia in Kamrup Metropolitan district of Assam. Guwahati Water Bodies (Preservation and Conservation) Act 2008 has specifically notified the Silsako Lake in the Schedule I to IV along with six other wetlands of Guwahati.

Etymology
Silsako (শিলসাঁকো) is the Assamese term for Stone Bridge. Beel (বিল) means lake in Assamese language.

Area
Silsako lake has a length of approximately 5 km and an average width of 250 m.

2023 evictions
On 26 February 2023, GMDA through Pratidin Time informed that a major eviction drive would be carried out against encroached land belonging to Silsako lake after a few previous such attempts had failed.

The eviction drive started peacefully on 27 February 2023 and on the first day, illegally occupied land 100 m away from the lake periphery, reclaimed upon former water channels, was acquired. Demolished structures included residential buildings, temples, namghars and mosques.

Following the initial evictions, many evictees complained of a lack of prior notice about the eviction, and many of the local residents including indigenous groups, claimed that their evicted land was legal and they even held GMC holding numbers. The drive was set to last until 3 March, and included relocation of many prominent establishments like the Ginger Hotel, OKD Institute of Social Change and Development and Doordarshan Kendra, Guwahati.

The drive was temporarily halted on 3 March. On 12 March, 179 acres of land were acquired from seventeen institutions to continue the eviction drive.