DISPOSSESSED FOR DEVELOPMENT? STATE-LED URBANIZATION AND INDIGENOUS LAND RIGHTS IN ASSAM, INDIA

Abstract

Assam’s pursuit of a ‘better life’ through governance-led development has generated a paradox where rapid urbanization advances alongside intensifying indigenous dispossession. This study examines how state-driven expansion-exemplified by the Guwahati Smart City Mission, industrial corridors under the Act East Policy, and infrastructure projects like Assam Mala-reconfigures land relations and territorial authority in Northeast India. Grounded in political ecology and agrarian transition frameworks, it reveals how acquisition processes under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Act (2013) frequently circumvent protective statutes such as the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation (1886) and the Forest Rights Act (2006). Empirical insights from peri-urban Kamrup and Dibrugarh districts demonstrate uneven socio-ecological outcomes, including forced evictions, livelihood disruptions and local resistance. Recurrent Brahmaputra floods and climate-induced displacements further intensify rural-urban migration, while post-CAA demographic politics exacerbate anxieties over identity and belonging within tribal belts. By situating these dynamics within broader debates on neoliberal governance and spatial justice, the chapter argues that Assam’s urban modernity exemplifies accumulation by dispossession, where infrastructural growth is decoupled from social equity. It calls for participatory and rights-based planning mechanisms-community-led land mapping, transparent valuation, and equitable rehabilitation frameworks-to align development with indigenous sovereignty and ecological resilience.