Encroachers out to grab Tawi river banks again

Months after the government claimed to have retrieved 900 kanals from encroachers along the Tawi, the land is being reoccupied with the active support of some influential persons using the Gujjar community and people from the erstwhile Doda district as a “mask”.
Most of the land belongs to the Jammu Development Authority, Irrigation and Flood Control Department and Forest Department.
The PDP-BJP government had launched a major drive to retrieve land from encroachers around the Jammu city.
Sources said the encroachment was taking place in a planned manner with the patronage of certain influential persons in nexus with some corrupt revenue officials.
“It is a lost battle. The campaign (against encroachment) was deliberately given a communal colour. The recent incident in which some members of the Gujjar community attacked a team of officials from the Revenue Department and the police was a deliberate attempt to prevent any action against the violators. Now, with the state waiting for the formation of the new government, efforts against encroachments have received a major setback,” said a senior JDA official.
During the last Assembly session in Srinagar in October last year, then Minister of State for PHE and Flood Control Abdul Majid Padder had revealed that more than 900 kanals were recovered from encroachers along the Tawi and the data was being compiled by the government.
During September 2014 flash floods, several residential colonies constructed illegally along the river bank were damaged following which the administration had promised to stop any such activities in the future.
Sources said at many places like Majheen, Raghura and Upper Sidhra, people who had received land compensation from the government had not only constructed concrete houses, but also sold over 3,000 kanals to the prospective buyers, mostly from Kashmir.
The JDA vice-chairman, Mubarak Singh, said, “At the moment I don’t have any information (on the matter). But the anti-encroachment drive is on and action is being taken whenever any violation is found.”
A senior official involved in the drive, however, claimed that blatant violation of the Master Plan was carried out with the active help of certain influential persons having political links.
“Every effort made to stop violations has been thwarted. Several hundred structures are being built in violation of rules along the banks of the Tawi near Bhagwati Nagar, Gujjar Nagar, Gorkha Nagar and Sidhra,” the official said.