Encroachment drive on Jassian Road called off, more time given for vacating shanties

An anti-encroachment drive aimed at clearing shanties from government land near the Jassian Road railway crossing was put on hold on Wednesday, with officials unable to remove the illegal structures. Officials from the district administration had taken along huge force and JCB machines to clear the encroachments but after over two hours, they failed to remove the encroachments for various reasons.

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As per the information received, land belonging to Jassian village panchayat, saw teams from the district administration, Municipal Corporation (MC), Teh Bazari and MC police arrive with machinery and law enforcement officials. Senior officers including the Tehsildar, Block Development and Panchayat Officer (BDPO) led the team but they took a U-turn after the deliberations.

The operation faced strong opposition from the encroachers, prompting officials to grant them more time to vacate the land voluntarily. People living in shanties started resisting and despite being served a warning, didn’t bother.

According to officials, there had been numerous complaints against illegal occupants and the panchayat had also expressed a desire to remove the encroachments from prime land near the railway lines. However, the panchayat was reportedly unable to produce an approved resolution for the eviction during the drive.

Further complicating the situation for the officials of the administration, former councillor Gurpreet Singh Gopi arrived to support the shanty occupants. He stated that these families had been residing there for the past 25 years and emphasised the difficulty of relocating them during the ongoing rainy season. Gopi urged officials to provide a few days’ grace period to allow the residents to make alternative arrangements.

Following the stalled drive, officials shifted their stance and left from the spot. Block Development Panchayat Officer (BDPO) Rajesh Chadha who was on the forefront at the encroachment site and was seen issuing directions, told Tribune when contacted, “We had not come to remove the encroachments; we have rather given time to the encroachers to vacate the land in a few days. We brought police and MC teams along as a precautionary measure to keep law and order under control.”

Interestingly, this statement contradicted the initial presence of machinery and police force, suggesting a change in approach after facing resistance. Chadha, when asked if the administration had gone to serve notices and to do marking of encroached land, evaded a direct reply and said the department would take action as per the law in coming days.