Srinagar Municipal Corporation in collaboration with Revenue Department Thursday embarked on a massive anti-encroachment campaign in Parimpora and its adjacent areas of capital city with a view to free government land from boundaries and structures built allegedly by the land mafia.Eyewitnesses said that the drive started in Parimpora which is a part of Batamaloo Assembly constituency. Led by Sub Divisional Magistrate West Mrs Rifat, Tehsildar Shalteng Syed Altaf, SMC Enforcement Officer Central Masood-ul-Hussain, concerned ward officer Umar-u-Din Chohan the drive was conducted in the presence of special demolition squad and Jammu Kashmir Police.
SMC Enforcement Officer Central Masood-ul-Hussain told CNS that encroachments in the city are omnipresent and thriving, much to the discomfort of the common citizens. Be it the roads, parks, pavements, markets or public lands taken in the name of religion, the city is known for the encroachments, which are blots on the face of the urban landscape.“These are decades old encroachments found on state land measuring 8 kanals. These encroachments including shops, tin sheds, fencing, single storey houses were identified by Revenue Department and we were directed to free this vast stretch of land from land mafia,” the officer said.
SMD West Mrs Rifat said that owing to the vast stretches of land and massive encroachments, the driver will take at least four to five days. “There are clear cut directions from the government to free state-land from encroachments,” she said.Commissioner Srinagar Municipal Corporation Bashir Ahmed Khan said that it is the policy of the government to free every inch of state land from land grabbers. Pertinently, encroachment on government and non-government land and its misuse for monetary gains is fast emerging as an organized crime in Srinagar city with certain dominant persons allegedly involved in it. Despite claims by the authorities, larger parts in the city are still under control of several unscrupulous persons. (CNS)