The Jammu and Kashmir government has a real Herculean task to perform as it starts one of its most challenging field exercises to free encroached state and 'Kahcharie' (grazing land) lands from encroachers.
One gets a Bird's eye view of the magnitude of this anti-encroachment drive by simply looking at the area that has been encroached over the years in the just the Jammu division.
Out of the total 86,14,272 Kanals of state land in the 10 districts of Jammu division, 10,12,273 Kanals are under the occupation of the encroachers.
Similarly, out of the total 8,75,194 Kanals of Kahcharie land in the 10 districts of Jammu division, 31,129 Kanals remain under illegal occupation of the encroachers.
Out of the total 86,14,272 Kanals of state land in Jammu division, 10,60,909 Kanals are in Reasi district; 12,37,711 in Rajouri district; 6,87,796 in Kishtwar; 10,61,505 in Jammu district; 10,29,103 in Kathua district; 3,92,198 in Samba; 12,29,187 in Udhampur; 5,33,377 in Ramban; 5,99,620 in Doda and 7,82,866 in Poonch district.
Of these, 1,76,439 Kanals of state land have been encroached in Reasi district; 2,34,952 in Rajouri district; 12,500 in Kishtwar; 1,52,737 in Jammu; 1,17,314 in Kathua; 58,702 in Samba; 52,020 in Udhampur; 81,344 in Ramban; 16,492 in Doda and 1,09,873 in Poonch district.
Out of the total Kahcharie land of 8,75,194 Kanals, 1266 Kanals have been encroached in Reasi, 7961 in Rajouri, 369 in Kishtwar, 5483 in Jammu, 4344 in Kathua, 886 in Samba, 422 in Udhampur, 141 in Ramban, 148 in Doda and 10109 Kanals in Poonch district.
Since the land area in Jammu division is larger than that of the Valley, obviously more land exists in Jammu division and, therefore, more of it has been encroached over the years in comparison with the Valley.
Eviction exercise was in fact started in Jammu division right after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, but officials said, the exercise could not pick up enough pace because of the Covid pandemic in that year.
A top official told IANS, "From these figures one gets a clear idea that what the government intends to do is not against any region, community or religion.
"The sharks will have to let go of the huge chunks of state lands and Kahcharie lands encroached by them.
"The farmer and the poor people have nothing to fear. Negligible encroachments say up to 5 to 10 and even 15 Marlas are not being touched.
"Those occupying huge chunks of state/grazing land are rattled. They want to convert the pro-people anti-encroachment drive into some sort of a regional or religious battle which is complete nonsense.
"At many places the big encroachers have been telling the farmers and poor people that when the rich and powerful are not spared how could the ordinary citizen be spared.
"Our drive is against nobody as such unless he/she has been benefitting illegally by usurping public property."
Notwithstanding the officer's assertion, every land owner has started approaching the revenue officials to find out whether the land under their occupation is genuine or not.
Narendra Modi will continue to be PM even after turning 75, clarifies Amit Shah
Asserting that Narendra Modi will continue to be the Prime Minister in the third term of NDA, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday sought to clarify that the BJP Constitution has no rule that a leader who reaches the age of 75 years should not hold the post.
Will not go inside Raj Bhavan even if I am invited: Mamata Banerjee
In an oblique reference to the sexual harassment controversy surrounding West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose, the state’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday afternoon said that she would never go inside Raj Bhavan even if she was invited.
India under PM Modi a global case study on how to become a resilient economy: Rajeev Chandrasekhar
Union Minister and BJP candidate from Thiruvananthapuram, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, said on Saturday that India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become a global case study on how to emerge as a resilient economy amid myriad of challenges.
Tripura Gramin Bank secures 2nd position among 43 Regional Rural Banks in India
Singh said that in terms of business, growth and various performances, the TGB secured second position among the 43 RRBs in India after the Jharkhand Rajya Gramin Bank, which held top position in the financial year ended March 2024.
Tripuratoday editor in-chief Bapi Ray attacked at Agartala
The incident took place after the news editor Bapi Ray was returning home from his work on Friday night at around 10:30 pm. A group of miscreants attacked him and left him sustained injury on his head.
Fuel supply in Tripura to be restored from tonight as wagon on way to Dharmanagar depot
In a big sigh of relief from the acute crisis of fuel in the state of Tripura, a train carrying fuel wagons is on its way to the state and will reach the Dharmanagar fuel depot on Saturday night.
UPI payments see surge in India, leading people to overspending too: Experts
As India's digital and less-cash journey gains steam, more and more people are not only purchasing their daily essentials via unified payments interface (UPI) mode of digital transactions but also costly home appliances, high-end gadgets and designer apparels, among other things.
Pak had more electricity than India because of Cong’s misrule, Malviya hits back at Aiyar’s ‘respect’ quip
The graph showed that at the start of the decade in 2000, a higher percentage of Pakistan's population had access to electricity, standing at 72.8 per cent, while India stood at 60.3 per cent.