800 kanals in Pampore encroached upon

An illegal residential colony is coming up on state and saffron land in the Pampore area of Pulwama district.

Locals alleged that the administration was hand in glove with the land mafia.

Pampore residents said soil excavation was rampant in the saffron fields located in the periphery of the town. They alleged that the district administration was allowing vandalising of precious saffron land.

They claimed that the land mafia was facilitating construction of residential houses on a huge chunk of state and saffron land.

Any kind of construction on either the state or the saffron land is illegal.

Sources said more than 800 kanals on the periphery of main Pampore town were encroached upon by some rich and influential persons.

“Some bureaucrats and officers of the Police Department are also getting their houses constructed on the said land,” a source said. The district administration has time and again succumbed to the political backing the encroachers and the land mafia have, he added.

A recent drive by the district administration to demolish illegal structures raised on the said land was foiled by the land mafia with the intervention of some politicians.

“A demolition team was sent back from the spot after it got repeated calls from their higher ups,” said a source in the district administration.

Pulwama Deputy Commissioner (DC) Neeraj Kumar accepted that some people were trying to raise structures on the said land.

“I have ordered and ensured a complete halt on any construction on the said land,” the DC said. He said action would be initiated against people who have raised structures on the land.