Anti-encroachment drive intensified

Jammu: A total of 910 kanal 15 marlas of land was retrieved from alleged encroachers in Jammu and Ramban districts on Tuesday.

An official spokesman in a statement issued here said that the Jammu district administration demolished an under-construction illegal structure being raised on State land in Pargwal.

The spokesman said that taking stringent action against the alleged encroachers, the demolition drive was conducted by Tehsildar Pargwal and Police.

He said that a team of officers of the Revenue Department along with the members of the Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRI), Police and other concerned officials retrieved 33 kanal and 15 marla State land in village Palwan, encroached by the village Numberdar.

The official spokesman in a separate statement said that the district administration Ramban, in continuation to the anti-encroachment drives, on Tuesday retrieved more than 876 kanal State land in different tehsils of the district.

He said that in the joint anti encroachment drives conducted by the officers of the Revenue Department, 187 kanal State land was reclaimed in Tehsil Ramban, 417 kanal State land in Rajgarh, 182 kanal in Banihal, 19 kanal in Batote, and 70 kanal in Pogal-Paristan.

The spokesman said the teams also demolished illegal structures raised on the encroached land. Meanwhile, a stone crusher owner in Ganderbal voluntarily evacuated the encroached Kahcharai land in the district.

An official spokesman in a separate statement said that the Ganderbal district administration appreciated the stone crusher owner who voluntarily agreed to evacuate Kahcharai land measuring 8 kanal at Watalbagh, Ganderbal and set an example for others.

The official spokesman said that the owner gave an undertaking to the concerned revenue authorities of Tehsil Lar who also retrieved the Kahcharai land.

He said that the Ganderbal district administration reiterated that the encroachment drive would be strictly held in consonance with various court directions and orders from time to time.

The official spokesman said that most of the retrieved land has been handed over to various departments like Horticulture, Agriculture, Rural Development Department and others so it could be utilised for various developmental purposes as per the requirement to benefit the masses at the ground level.

He said that the Ganderbal district administration sought cooperation of the masses and appealed to all who have grabbed the State land illegally to handover it voluntarily to the Revenue authorities as this land belongs collectively to the masses and no one has legal right on it.

Meanwhile, Poonch district administration has retrieved over 1531 kanals of encroached state land in the last 20 days.

The drive has been going on in all three subdivisions of Poonch district – Surankote subdivision, Mendhar subdivision, and Poonch headquarters subdivision.

Officials said, “On the directions of the J&K government, the entire administrative paraphernalia headed by the Revenue Department is engaged in carrying out anti-encroachment drives in all parts of the district. Tehsil level officers of the Revenue Department, assisted by Police, are making efforts to retrieve state land that is under encroachment.”

“So far, 1531 kanal and 4 marlas of state land under encroachment have been retrieved in the district in the past 20 days,” they said, sharing official statistics.

“Major portion of this land was open and in rural areas while construction has also been done on some pockets of this land. Some of these structures have also been removed,” the officials said.

“A portion of state land under illegal encroachment of a former lawmaker in the Surankote sub division of Poonch district has also been retrieved,” they said.

Assistant Commissioner Revenue Poonch, Z A Kaifi said that the administration was continuing this drive and more land would be retrieved in the near future.