Bandipora, Jan 19: Taking a firm stance against land grabbers, theBandipora District administration has recovered 75% of the illegally occupied land, setting a record for the largest percentage of encroached land ever recovered by a district in Jammu & Kashmir.
A district revenue officer informed Rising Kashmir that during the anti-encroachment operations carried out in the region, over 1,600 kanals of land were reclaimed in a single day, 300 of which had industrial potential.
He said that in the last week, they had been able to recover 3,000 kanals, 500 of which were next to a highway and had some industrial potential..
With the acquisition of about 1600 Kanals on Thursday, the total amount of encroached land recovered in the district increased to about 28000 Kanals, including 15471 Kanals of Kahcharai land and 13217 Kanals of State land, he said. He also noted that it is being set aside for various developmental initiatives, playgrounds, village-oriented services, and industries in cooperation with the local villagers and PRIs.
While speaking to Rising Kashmir, Deputy Commissioner Bandipora, Dr Owais Ahmedemphasised that unauthorised use of government and public lands strains land resources and he advised the people to willingly give up unauthorised possessions or face the repercussions.
Speaking to Rising Kashmir, Owais stated that anti-encroachment campaigns are ongoing throughout the region and urged the people to assist the government in its anti-encroachment efforts.
The Deputy Commissioner, Bandipora said the district has amassed a land bank of approximately 25000 kanals, of which approximately 1550 kanals have been designated for industrial estates, 2000 kanals for industrial purposes, from which approximately 1377 kanals have already been allocated, and approximately 100 kanals for handicraft, agricultural-based activities, and other activities, as well as approximately 200 kanals for the establishment of housing.Colony in WatporaBandipora.
Anti-encroachment activities are being conducted in order to protect public property from the illegal ownership of land mafia, with the intent of using the land for the benefit of the people, he said.
Earlier, the gun licensing scam reported in Jammu and Kashmir in 2017 and the case was handed over to the CBI branch of Chandigarh.
The gun license racket was exposed by Rajasthan Police in 2017-18 when it found thousands of gun licenses were issued in lieu of money by district magistrates in various districts of Jammu and Kashmir.
As per officials, total of 4,29,301 licenses were issued of which only 10 percent were issued to residents of the erstwhile J&K.
