Dharamsala: Cases of 124 landless oustees forwarded for settlement

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, January 23

The district administration of Kangra has referred the cases of 124 landless Pong Dam oustees to the Settlement Office at Dharamsala. This has paved the way for transfer of forestlands on which houses of Pong Dam oustees are located in their name.

The landless Pong Dam oustees have been living without any land in their names. They were deprived of all facilities, including water and power connections in many cases, due to erroneous entries in revenue records.

Deputy Commissioner Kangra, Nipun Jindal said the cases of 124 landless Pong Dam oustees have been referred to Settlement Office for correcting entries in revenue record in which the land on which houses of these oustees were located were declared forest land. This would make the landless oustees owners of the land on which their houses were located. While 124 cases have already been referred to Settlement Office some more have applied and their cases were being examined, he said.

Most of the landless oustees of Pong Dam were farm labourers who were settled on common land of villages along Pong Dam lake. When the Pong Dam was constructed their houses were submerged in Pong Dam lake. They then shifted to upper areas and settled on common lands of their villages. In 1980s the state government converted all common lands into forestlands in revenue records.

The revenue officials at that point of time without carrying any ground level survey, converted entire common lands in the state to forest land in revenue papers. This was done despite the fact that people were settled on the land. The residents of villages, who were settled on common lands, became encroachers on forest lands after that and were deprived of all facilities including power and water connections.

The district administration of Kangra initiated the process of correcting the revenue entries and the error in transferring houses of the oustees into forest land after the issue was highlighted by The Tribune.

Sources here said that similar cases in which houses of people settled on common lands being converted into forestland have cropped up in other areas of the district also. In many villages such as Khaiara near Dharamsala, many SCs in the village were settled on common land of the village. After the entire common land was converted into forestland the people, who had settled on common lands, have become encroachers on forest lands and have been facing action from forest department. Many residents of Himachal who were settled here for generations have been deprived of their rights as the common lands in the state were converted into forest lands.

The officials in the revenue department said that though the district administration has initiated the process of revenue corrections for Pong Dam oustees, the state government should take call on similar exercise for resident residents settled on common lands converted into forest lands.