JAMMU: Going tough on encroachments by land mafia, Governor N N Vohra today voiced deep concern over encroachment of over 18 lakh kanals of Government, Panchayat and Forest lands in the State in gross violation of Revenue, Forest and Municipal laws and directed Divisional Commissioners of Jammu/Kashmir to prepare by August 15 this year the lists of major encroachments through the District Collectors and initiate time-bound action for eviction of encroachments.
At a high-level meeting called to review encroachments on State, Panchayat and Forest lands in the State, Vohra noted that 18 lakh kanals of land has been encroached upon in gross violations of the Revenue, Forest and Municipal laws and directed the District Collectors in the State to carry out comprehensive mapping of the encroachments.
Besides Government, Panchayat and Forest lands, the Governor also directed the District Collectors to map the encroachments over Dal, Wular, Nageen lakes and other water bodies, National Highways and public roads in their respective jurisdictions.
He directed the District Collectors to make full use of available technologies like Geo Tagging and Satellite Mapping to prepare verified database by July 31 and forward the same to the Divisional Commissioners of Jammu/Kashmir.
Vohra directed that both the Divisional Commissioners of Jammu/Kashmir after receiving base data reports from the District Collections, should prepare by August 15 the lists of major encroachments, especially on the National Highways, major roads, public places, commercial hubs etc especially those causing obstruction and nuisance and initiate time-bound action for the eviction of encroachments.
An official handout said during the meeting Advisor to Governor Khurshid Ganai suggested that a Special Court/Tribunal be constituted to hear all cases pertaining to encroachments so that evictions in such cases are not delayed by the parties seeking stay of proceedings from various Courts.
The Governor directed the Divisional Commissioners to ensure that the Deputy Commissioners enforced the Ribbon Development Act and other legal provisions to strictly ensure against encroachments particularly along both sides of the National Highway from Lakhanpur onwards.
