About 58,000 hectares of reserved forest area in north Assam have been devastated following aggression by Arunachal Pradesh on the one hand and encroachment by local people on the other. Though north Assam has been enriched naturally by 28 forest reserves, existence of many of them has remained in hoardings only. Interestingly, the State government and the Forest department have been mute spectators towards the encroachment and rampant destruction of forest cover for a long time.