Land mafia faces heat in forest areas

Sumit Hakhoo

Tribune News Service

Jammu, November 17

With political patronage gone and Jammu and Kashmir now a Union Territory (UT), land grabbers are facing the heat of the Forest Department as the administration has started a major drive to curb encroachment.

On Saturday evening, about 200 kanals (10 hectares) were recovered in an anti-encroachment drive conducted by the Forest Department in a Dwara village compartment on the outskirts of Jammu. Officials said within the next six months, the department had set a target to recover 300 hectares of forest land in Jammu district.

A senior official said there were clear directions from the state administration to restore the sanctity of the forest areas across Jammu and Kashmir UT and act swiftly against the law-breakers who were earlier using political influence in the erstwhile J&K state to carry out their activities.

In many cases, even serving and retired government employees are the culprits who, along with corrupt revenue officials, have constructed concrete structures in fragile zones illegally.

“For years, influential persons were using the poor Gujjar community to fulfil their nefarious designs to encroach prime land in Jammu. When any step was taken, it was communalised and given a religious colour. This way thousands of kanals of land, belonging to the Jammu Development Authority (JDA), Irrigation and Flood Control Department and Forest Department, was grabbed,” said a senior administrative official.

The Forest Department and other civic bodies were not getting the support of the administration. After every drive, the evicted areas used to be encroached again by land mafia.

The District Forest Official (Jammu), Alok Maurya said, “A Forest Offence Report (FOR) has also being registered against culprits after retrieving the land. The department is taking all measures to prevent encroachment and the retrieved area is fenced immediately.”

As per the data, about 50,459 acres of forest land is encroached in J&K. The department has constituted sub-committees to prevent the encroachment of grazing areas allotted every year to the nomadic community which has also helped in preventing grabbing.

Last year during the Governor’s rule, the Forest Department had constituted sub-committees to prevent the encroachment of grazing areas allotted every year to the nomadic community.