Encroachments on forested land removed in Dharamkot

Dharamsala, August 24

The team of the Forest Department — including a forest section officer and a police team — recently reached Dharamkot, popularly known as ‘mini-Israel’, just above McLeodganj in Dharamsala, to take stock of illegal structures that had come up on forested land in the area.

Cracking the whip, the department, along with the police, removed temporary shops built on forested land.

Dharamsala Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Dinesh Sharma said, “A team of the department has removed illegal encroachments constructed on forested land.”

According to him, as per the court’s instructions, strict action would be taken against people who had illegally encroached upon forested land.

Earlier, the department had warned encroachers to immediately remove their illegal structures.

Despite this, illegal encroachments in forested land were not being removed. Some people had even built permanent sheds in the area without having government permission to do so. The encroachments in the area were increasing by the day.

Sharma said he had asked encroachers to remove their structures as soon as possible, adding that the repeated warnings were being deliberately ignored by them. Therefore, the department took action and removed the encroachments, he said.

The department’s team also warned encroachers not to invade the land again, otherwise strict action would be taken against them, he added.