Claim for Commons: February 2012

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

News Article: Farmers demonstrate against land acquisition in Madhya Pradesh

Narendra Ch 24 February,2012

Thousands of farmers have protested against the land acquisition in Madhya Pradesh, which they allege is a loot of natural resources. The government had acquired land of farmers for building canals at the cost of 15000 rupees per acre; subsequently destroying the adjoining farm lands and now the same water is sold out to Adani's illegally.

KISAN SANGHARSH Samiti organized a demonstration at Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha on Thursday demanding cancellation of Adani Pench Power Project, Pench Diversion Project, S.K.S Project, MAXCO Project in Chindwada district and handing back land to the 50 thousand farmers of 50 villages.

Thousands of farmers assembled today morning at Sahjani Park & marched towards assembly. They were stopped at Neelam Park by police, where they started dharna till sunset. NAPM National Coordinator Madhuresh Kumar gave vivid account of the violation of environment loss and loot of Natural Resources done by Adani’s in Mundra, Gujarat. He said that without getting clearance from Ministry of Environment and Forest in Chindwada, Adani’s have started doing similar crime which must be stopped by people. He extended solidarity of 250 people’s movements to Kisan Sangharsh Samiti struggle.

Mansaram, Leader of Narmada Bachao Aandolan said that people’s power is the Supreme power in the democracy but government is not ready to honour people’s power. He gave detailed account of NBA struggle and achievements.

Addressing the farmers, Working President of KSS, Ex. M.L.A Dr. Sunilam demanded that government of Madhya Pradesh take the position that agricultural land will be acquired and no land acquisition will be done without consent of Gram Sabha. He demanded that government should bring this resolution and get it passed in Vidhan Sabha for inclusion in the proposed land acquisition bill to be passed in the Budget Session of Parliament.

Dr. Sunilam said that the government will not be allowed to become an agent of business houses while taking votes in the name of welfare of common people. Dr. Sunilam said that Supreme Court has directed all the state governments to clear the encroachments of the graveyards and grazing lands, but government of Madhya Pradesh has allowed not only encroachments of graveyards and grazing lands but also allowed Adani’s to encroach the public village roads and 20 hectares of “Chote jhad ka jungle”. In Katni, grazing land is given away to Sukhsagar Builders. Similarly land acquired in the name of irrigation in the Pench Diversion Project is being used for providing water to Adani’s, which is totally illegal.

Advt. Aradhna Bhargav, Vice President of KSS & Leader of Project affected farmer of Chindwada said that government had acquired land of farmers for building canals at the cost of 15000 rupees per acre, subsequently destroying the adjoining farm lands and now the same water is sold out to Adani’s illegally. She demanded that land acquired by the government, the Adani Pench Power Project, Pench Diversion Project, S.K.S Project, MAXCO Project must be given back to the farmers after cancellation of the projects. She said that they do not want to get into severe conflict with government but farmers are being cornered to stop construction work of canals by doing Satyagarh at construction site, because concerned officials are not ready to talk to the farmers. She threatened the government to take the issue to streets of Delhi by organizing demonstration at Parliament House on the 22nd – 23rd March.

Dr.A.K Khan, V.P of KSS said that villagers of Padua village are fighting for long time to save the village land, which is being allotted to Sukhsagar Pvt. Ltd. He said that farmers are ready to sacrifice their motherland and go to any extent for the same. He demanded state government to save the public lands, which is necessary not only for farmers but also for survival of cattle.

Ghudo Patel District President, Rama Patel Vice President, Kunj Bihari Patel Gen. Secretary, Kamal Singh Treasurer Rakesh Verma Secretary, Mekhlal Asst. Secretary, Block President of Chindwada Sajje Chandrvansi, Devi Chandrvansi Vice President, Mahesh Daheria Treasurer, Balram Chandrvansi, Kisnu, Kunjvihari Sharma Gen. Secretary, Chinga Verma Choria Block President, Sukhlal verma, Vice President, Balram Verma Gen.Secretary, Jitu Masram Secretary & other KSS Leaders led the demonstration. KSS also gave a memorandum to Chief Minister, Irrigation Minister, and Revenue Minister.

http://www.merinews.com/article/farmers-demonstrate-against-land-acquisition-in-madhya-pradesh/15866239.shtml

Friday, February 24, 2012

News Article: Delhi Govt. to promote fish farming in rural areas

Special Correspondent

The Delhi Cabinet on Wednesday approved auctioning of fishing activities in 24 water bodies on gram sabha land in the Capital.

At a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, it was decided that fish culture would be encouraged in the water bodies and village ponds to overcome the problem of encroachment of such water bodies situated on gram sabha land.

By virtue of a notification of May 23, 1957, water bodies in the villages of Delhi had become the property of gram sabha. However, over the years it was noticed that due to increase in population, such water bodies were also being encroached by the people resulting in reduction in natural sources of water and depletion of water table in Delhi. Further, many of these water bodies had also suffered on account of pollution caused by running of drains and sewerage lines into them.

As per the provision of Delhi Land Reforms Act, 1954, it is the duty of gram panchayat to develop activities such as poultry farming and fishery. Further, the Delhi High Court had directed the Delhi Government to take all precautionary measures for revival and maintenance of water bodies.

In view of this, the Government said the Fisheries Unit of its Development Department had identified 24 such water bodies in North-West District where fishing could be introduced.

“The Cabinet has decided to auction these water bodies for fishing activities on approved terms and conditions which include utilisation of ponds for only fish and fish seed of cultureable varieties, not to further hand over pond to any other person, no modification in the existing structure in the water bodies and not to do any activity which is not in conformity with the existing or future laws of environment,'' a statement by the Delhi Government said.

Further, the ownership of lands and ponds shall continue to remain with the gram sabha. The Cabinet has also approved composition of the proposed auction committees which will conduct auctions .

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/article2923142.ece

Thursday, February 23, 2012

News Article: 'We have this image that people are helpless — I want to get rid of that'

Nitin Sethi Feb 13, 2012, 12.00AM IST

Tags: The situation|The National

Nobel laureate Elinor Ostrom , the first woman to win a Nobel for economics, has done path-breaking research in political economy, focussing on managing common pool resources like forests, fishe-ries and irrigation systems to maximise long-term returns from these. Challenging notions about elaborate governmental regulation needed to manage environmental resources, Ostrom spoke with Nitin Sethi about changes individuals can make, the urgency to move beyond debates - and the role of information:

You have written extensively about not waiting for nation states to resolve climate change - but can't only nation states manage the effort to reduce emissions?

No. Individuals owning a house can do a fair amount within their house. Communities can do quite a bita yes, there is a definitive role at the national level but right now, we have this image that people are helpless - that's the image i want to get rid of.

However, the big issues of emission reductions are deter-mined by altering industrial patterns and commercial systems. Changing these is beyond individual citizens who can only change their own lifestyle - your view?

That change does take various public officials. But what i'm concerned about is that sometimes, there's this suggestion that a paper is going to solve the problem - but it isn't. There's been a lot of natio-nal legislation that has not really accomplished some of the goals. And i'm particularly anxious that we don't wait more. But yes, we've got to elect officials who are concerned about climate change.

You've researched environmental commons - how different is dealing with a 'commons' of atmosphere?

There are differences because of scale. But if we think the scale is only global, then we have to wait for international agreements and debate who created the situation, who should pay for it and in what proportion. These are big debates between developing and developed countries about historic responsibilities. I think they're important but we can go on for five or 10 years having these debates without doing anything. What i am very worried about is more years of not doing anything isn't a good situation for you and i.

How do you see individuals and communities reacting to climate change beyond their governments in the West today?

In Europe, they're doing a lot better than many other places in the worlda¦the gas tax in Europe is much higher than in the United States - their tax is ridicu-lously lowa¦but if information is available, it can make a huge difference. Imagine this simple thing - campuses in the US are beginning to drive competition between their residential dorms as to who can use the least energy. That gets the undergra-duate much more informed of what they can do. While they're competing with each other, they're learning things. When they have really good meters which can tell them what's going on, they can make choices.

But in a country like India, where you have roughly 400 million people without electricity and no question of meters, can you really ask them to do more?

Well - but we take their forest away from them.

What can the West do to assume more responsibility for lowering emissions?

Well, for one, i'm very concerned about clean cooking stoves. I get mad when they talk of making inexpensive solar cooking stoves in Chicago and importing these in India and Nepal. Instead, they should be looking for entrepreneurs and small-scale factories here, not so far away from where they're going to be sold.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-02-13/edit-page/31052508_1_climate-change-debates-national-level

This article does not directly relate to the Supreme Court's judgment on Commons, however, it is being shared as it is important in the overall context of governance of Commons which the Supreme Court relates to in its judgment.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

News Article: Illegal encroachment over pond removed

OUR CORRESPONDENT

R S PURA : On the directions of District Development Commissioner (DDC) Jammu Sanjeev Verma the Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Ashwani Khajuria removed the illegal encroachment of pond in village Birla. The SDM went to the village alongwith Tehsildar R S Pura and SDPO and removed encroachment over10 kanals of pond land which was illegally occupied by the people.

SDM said that during recent public meeting (Janata Durbar) DDC Jammu, the people had raised an issue of illegal occupation of village ponds which created shortage of water and loss of moisture from the land. On the directions of DDC the drive against the illegal encroachment has was intitiated. SDM appealed to the people to vacate illegally encroached ponds otherwise the administration will resort to demolition of structures on these ponds.

http://www.statetimes.in/news/illegal-encroachment-over-pond-removed/

Monday, February 20, 2012

News Article: Encroachment removed from 25 acres

TNN | Feb 20, 2012, 07.08AM IST

HAZARIBAG: The district administration has made around 25 acres of land encroachment-free during a drive at Charhi on Sunday. The land originally belonged to the agricultural farm yard of the agriculture department.

Police sources said the land was illegally sold by the mafia to various organizations including a girls' high school run by a missionary. The school was there for more than two decades. The land was sold on forged document.

The anti-encroachment drive was led jointly by block development officer of Churchu A Besra and officer in charge of Charhi police station Binod Kumar Singh.

"When the agricultural department asked the occupants to vacate the land, it was ignored. The matter then went to the commissioner of north Chotonagpur division. The district's deputy commissioner after the inquiry found the claims of the agricultural department true and recommended for handing over the land to the agricultural farm," said a source.

The officer in charge of Charhi police station said when all the notices for vacating the land were ignored; police launched a massive drive and broke all the illegal constructions including the portion of school, houses, shops and motor garages.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ranchi/Encroachment-removed-from-25-acres/articleshow/11958177.cms

Friday, February 17, 2012

News Article: Hindon: 200 acres rid of encroachment

Vandana Keelor, TNN Feb 16, 2012, 07.17AM IST

Tags: Land mafia|Hindon floodplain|Encroachments

NOIDA: The district administration cracked down hard on land mafia and freed nearly 200 acres encroached along the Hindon floodplains on Wednesday. The demolition drive, which was delayed by a day, saw the district administration officials, cops from eight police stations and PAC personnel participate in a joint operation with the Noida and Greater Noida authorities to clear the illegal occupation.

The land that was freed is a part of five villages falling in the flood zone. Starting from Kulesra village, the anti-encroachment drive culminated for the day at Kakrala village in phase-II of Noida. Though hundreds of villagers and local politicians protested the move, officials said the drive will carry on for the next few days until all unauthorized construction is cleared.

"The drive began at 11am and lasted nearly six hours. A dozen bulldozers razed to the ground small houses and boundary walls across an area measuring almost 3.5km," said a UP irrigation department official. "Scores of plots carved out by illegal colonizers were also cleared," he added.

As soon as the earthmovers started tearing down unauthorized structures, tension brewed and a huge crowd of nearly 400 villagers and owners of the properties protested the move. Many squatted on the road and shouted slogans against the administration threatening a more aggressive protest if the drive was not stopped immediately. "This drive is not fair as the properties are registered with the administration," claimed the "owner" of a property near Kulesra village. "We have valid documents to prove our ownership," said Mahipal Singh from Kakrala who claimed to have bought a plot of 100m for Rs 3,500 four years ago.

However, the district officials were unwilling to relent and maintained that "all construction under the flood zone in nine villages is in violation of the existing laws and would be removed". "Construction in such zones obstructs natural river flow hindering flood control measures, besides causing harm to the ecology and environment," said Gyanendra Singh, the SDM under whose supervision the drive was conducted. "Initially, the fresh illegal construction will be tackled and freed. The older encroachment will be dealt with later," Singh said. "The aim is to get hold of the land sharks and bring them to book," he said.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-02-16/noida/31066207_1_anti-encroachment-drive-demolition-drive-kulesra

See the related article:

News Article: Illegal houses along Hindon to be razed

(http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-02-08/delhi/31037461_1_illegal-houses-illegal-structures-floodplains)

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Claim for Repossession of Village Land in Bulandshahr District - RTI

REGISTERED

A/G-398, Shalimar Bagh,

Delhi-110088.

February 8, 2011.

The District Magistrate,

Bulandshahr, U.P.

Sir,

Kindly see the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s judgement dated 28th January, 2011 (copy enclosed) regarding gram panchayat lands.

About 40 bighas of gram panchayatlandofVil. Kurbal Banaras, Tehsil and District Bulandshahr had been allotted to ineligible persons. They are:

1. Smt. Gendo w/o Sh. Jaipal who is a government servant working in the Electricity Department of U.P. Government

1. S/Shri Nisar, Iqbal, Qamruddin.

They are neither resident of the village nor scheduled caste. Hence allotment of land to them was illegal. The land was subsequently converted in their names on permanent basis (seerdari) which is all the more illegal.

In view of the Supreme Court’s orders the said land may please be restored to the gram panchayat of village Kurbal Banaras.

Yours faithfully,

( H.C. Sharma )

Encl: As above.

________________________________________________________________

REGISTERED

A/G-398, Shalimar Bagh,

Delhi-110088.

April 15, 2011

The Chief Secretary,

Government of Uttar Pradesh,

U.P. Secretariat Complex,

Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh

Sir,

There are many landless scheduled caste poor people in village Kurbal Banaras, tehsil and district Bulandshahr, U.P. As per law the gram panchayat land should be allotted/leased to such persons or used for community purposes. However, by bribing the gram pradhan and the district administration officials, some unscrupulous persons who are neither resident of the village nor scheduled caste or poor, have illegally grabbed large tracts (about 40 bighas) of gram panchayat land of the village. The district administration violating all norms and rules allotted this land to these well to do residents of other villages initially on lease and later converted it in their names on permanent basis. The location of this land is adjacent to the village abadi and between the railway line (Khurja –Meerut) and pucca coal tar road from Bulandshahr to village Jainpur which passes through village Kurbal Banaras and its value is now in crores of rupees. The allottees of this land are :

1. Smt. Gendo w/o Sh. Jaipal who is a government servant working in the Electricity Department of U.P. Government

1. S/Shri Nisar, Iqbal, Qamruddin.

None of them is resident of village Kurbal Banaras. Nor they are scheduled caste or poor. The allotment of gram panchayat land to them was, therefore, totally illegal and converting the land in their names permanently is still more illegal.

In this connection the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s judgement dated 28 January, 2011 in Civil Appeal No.1132/2011; Jagpal Singh & Ors Vs State of Punjab & Ors, may kindly be seen. The following observations of theHon’ble Court are noteworthy :

“ What we have witnessed since Independence, however, is that in large parts of the country this common village land has been grabbed by unscrupulous persons using muscle power, money power or political clout, and in many States now there is not an inch of such land left for the common use of the people of the village, though it may exist on paper. People with power and pelf operating in villages all over India systematically encroached upon communal lands and put them to uses totally inconsistent with its original character, for personal aggrandizement at the cost of the village community. This was done with active connivance of the State authorities and local powerful vested interests and goondas. This appeal is a glaring example of this lamentable state of affairs.”

“In Uttar Pradesh the U.P. Consolidation of Holdings Act, 1954 was widely misused to usurp Gram Sabha lands either with connivance of the Consolidation Authorities, or by forging orders purported to have been passed by Consolidation Officers in the long past so that they may not be compared with the original revenue record showing the land as Gram Sabha land, as these revenue records had been weeded out. Similar may have been the practice in other States. The time has now come to review all these orders by which the common village land has been grabbed by such fraudulent practices.”

“Before parting with this case we give directions to all the State Governments in the country that they should prepare schemes for eviction of illegal/unauthorized occupants of Gram Sabha/Gram Panchayat/Poramboke/Shamlat land and these must be restored to the Gram Sabha/Gram Panchayat for the common use of villagers of the village. For this purpose the Chief Secretaries of all State Governments/Union Territories in India are directed to do the needful, taking the help of other senior officers of the Governments. The said scheme should provide for the speedy eviction of such illegal occupant, after giving him a show cause notice and a brief hearing. Long duration of such illegal occupation or huge expenditure in making constructions thereon or political connections must not be treated as a justification for condoning this illegal act or for regularizing the illegal possession. Regularization should only be permitted in exceptional cases e.g. where lease has been granted under some Government notification to landless labourers or members of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes, or where there is already a school, dispensary or other public utility on the land. Let a copy of this order be sent to all Chief Secretaries of all States andUnionTerritories inIndia who will ensure strict and prompt compliance of this order and submit compliance reports to this Court from time to time. Although we have dismissed this appeal, it shall be listed before this Court from time to time (on dates fixed by us), so that we can monitor implementation of our directions herein. List again before us on 3.5.2011 on which date all Chief Secretaries inIndia will submit their reports.”

The above judgement is mutatis mutandis applicable in the instant case. It has been clearly laid down in the judgement that allotment of gram panchayat land to private persons is illegal. This order is applicable with retrospective effect. In view of the aforesaid it is requested that the gram panchayat land illegally allotted to the above mentioned persons (who are neither resident of the village nor Scheduled Caste or poor) may be ordered to be restored to the gram panchayat of village Kurbal Banaras to be allotted/leased to the landless scheduled caste/poor persons resident of the village or to be used for community purposes i.e. for the common use of the villagers as playground, grazing field, pond, establishing school or hospital etc.

A copy of the Supreme Court’s judgement is enclosed.

You can visit this link for the Supreme Court's judgement :

http://claim-for-commons.blogspot.in/search/label/Judgement

Yours faithfully,

( H.C. Sharma )

Encl: As above.

http://getup4change.org/rti/5499/5499/

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

News Article: Don’t misuse drinking water funds, Varthur tells officers

Kolar, February 13 2012, DHNS:

Sets March-end deadline for completion of work in district

Officers should take care using the crores of rupees released to alleviate the drinking water problem in the district, cautioned District In-charge Minister Varthur Prakash.

He was addressing the quarterly progress review meeting of the Zilla Panchayat in the City on Monday.

He said an amount of Rs 45 crore had been released for the purpose and Rs 20 crore was already utilised. “The remaining amount should be used by the end of March and the work completed. Officers should ensure the funds are not misused.”

‘Be transparent’

He also called upon the department officers to be transparent in their work, right from installing pipes to giving contracts, so that there are no complaints from the public regarding irregularities.

Reminding that the rural areas are in worse shape than the urban, Varthur instructed the Bescom inspector to provide power connection to the borewells dug in the villages.

“Pumps should also be installed within a week’s time and a report submitted regarding supply of electricity,” Varthur told the officers.

Road work

Devaraj, executive engineer of the Zilla Panchayat technical division, said, funds up to Rs 1.13 crore have been approved for development of roads under the Chief Minister’s Rural Road Development Scheme.

“Already, Rs 84 lakh of the amount has been released and Rs 41 lakh utilised for construction of roads. Of the 59 projects carried out, 35 have been completed and the rest are in progress,” he said.

An amount of Rs 88 lakh has been approved for small irrigation scheme and Rs 66 lakh released. “We have undertaken 158 projects under the scheme and 91 have been completed,” he said. “Every taluk has been released Rs 70 lakh for drinking water supply from the natural disaster management fund. Pumps will be installed and drinking water supplied to villages,” added Devaraj.

Varthur said Rs four to five crore has been released for each taluk for desilting and rejuvenating water tanks all over the district. “But there is barely any proof of the money being used in the taluks as the water tanks are in no better shape than before,” he said and warned the officers that there were series of complaints from the public. “The tanks should be desilted before further complaints are registered.”

‘Live near HQ’

The minister said the officers should reside near the department headquarters. “But most officers do not do so. Worse still, during emergencies, the mobile phones of officers are switched off,” he alleged and instructed the officers to get permission from the Deputy Commissioner before moving from the headquarters.

Referring to sand mining, Varthur said preventing the mining is everyone’s duty. The PWD should implement proper rules to prevent the mining. Alleging that middlemen are looting the people through sand mining, he instructed the police department to ensure the beneficiaries of the mining should face no problem.

Tank encroachment

The Kolaramma tank spreads across an area of 600 acres. Thirty-eight acres of the land has been encroached, said Varthur. “People who grow vegetables and unlicensed buildings should be cleared from the encroached area without leeway,” he told the officers concerned.

G K Venkatashiva Reddy, legislator, said, with the onset of summer, the district would begin to face drinking water problem. He agreed with Varthur that the funds released for each taluk should be used judiciously. “Just digging borewells does not complete the work. We also need to connect electric pumps and ensure water is supplied to the people,” he added.

Zilla Panchayat president Manjula Venkatesh, vice-president D V Harish, Member of Legislative Council D S Veeraiah, Deputy Commissioner Manoj Kumar Meena and Zilla Panchayat chief executive officer P Rajendra Cholan were present at the meeting.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/226984/dont-misuse-drinking-water-funds.html

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

News Article: HC finds govt guilty of killing city's lifeline

Source: DNA | Last Updated 04:51(09/09/11)

Jaipur: The Rajasthan High Court ordered removal of all encroachments in the catchment area of the Ramgarh Dam in Jaipur after a committee appointed by the court blamed 7 government departments for being negligent in their duties.

The court pulled up the government over rampant encroachments in the catchment area of the dam. The encroachments blocked the flow of water to the reservoir, which was once considered the city's lifeline.

During a hearing of the case on Thursday, the committee constituted by the court blamed the government for not only being negligent towards its duties but also for facilitating the encroachments by chanelling funds for construction of roads and development of obstructions in the dam's catchment area.

The committee observed that the irrigation department, rural development department, forest department, the Jaipur Development Authority, the pollution control board and the mines department have been careless in their discharging their duties which led to the cropping up of illegal constructions in the Ramgarh Dam.

The committee observed that these departments aided encroachments by constructing roads and watersheds, which made it impossible for water to flow into the dam.

The report also mentioned that a hotel with several ‘pucca construction’ on more than 700 bigha of land belonging with the former royal family has been constructed in the area.

After going through the report, the court ordered the forest department to submit a report informing HC of details on the forest land encroached in the dam region and have each of them removed. The court directed the department to ensure that no new encroachments take place in the future.

http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/RAJ-JPR-hc-finds-govt-guilty-of-killing-citys-lifeline-2415446.html

See the related articles-

1.News Article: HC raps govt in Ramgarh dam case

(http://claim-for-commons.blogspot.in/2012/02/news-article-hc-raps-govt-in-ramgarh.html)

2.News Article: HC tells govt to name officials who allotted land near Ramgarh dam

(http://claim-for-commons.blogspot.in/2012/01/news-article-hc-tells-govt-to-name.html)

3. News Article: Rajasthan: No construction, lease in Ramgarh area-HC
(http://claim-for-commons.blogspot.com/2011/08/news-article-rajasthan-no-construction.html )

Monday, February 13, 2012

News Article: Illegal houses along Hindon to be razed

Vandana Keelor, TNN Feb 8, 2012, 01.55AM IST

NOIDA: After almost a decade of ignoring rampant encroachment by land mafia in Gautam Budh Nagar along the Hindon floodplains, the district administration has finally woken up and decided to take action against them. Having constituted squads to conduct emergency inspections, the district magistrate has scheduled a high level emergency meeting on February 8 with officials from Noida Authority, Greater Noida Authority and the district police to determine further action.

All additional district magistrates, sub-divisional magistrates and other top officials of both Noida and Greater Noida, the senior superintendent of police and irrigation department officials are expected to attend the meeting to find a solution. "The operation against land mafia will begin with immediate effect even though the polls are our priority," said Hirdesh Kumar, district magistrate.

"All land under illegal possession will be recovered. Since it is a very sensitive issue that could cause a law and order problem due to agitation by some people, security will be tightened before launching the drive to remove the "illegal" structures," added Kumar.

The district magistrate said that action would be taken against anyone found involved in illegal activities and will continue until the encroachments are removed from the Hindon floodplains. During the meeting, officials will be instructed to demolish all illegal structures and take action against those involved in putting them up. "Action will also be taken against officials found to be patronizing land grabbers and illegal colonizers," Kumar said.

When asked about the decades old densely encroached area closer to NH-24, the DM said that initially the fresh "illegal" construction will be tackled and freed and the "older encroachment will be left for dealing with only after the assembly elections".

The land that has been encroached and sold to "unsuspecting" buyers for constructing houses lies across nearly 15 kilometres straddling the floodplains of the Hindon.

Located off the Noida-Greater Noida link road near sector 122 in Noida, and a stone's throw from the Noida Extension-Greater Noida area, illegal constructions have mushroomed right from the Hindon Pushta along the NH-24 up to Kulesra in Greater Noida. This entire area falls under the flood zone, where all construction activity is banned. Under river basin regulations, floodplains can only be used for farming and nothing else. Currently, hundreds of concrete structures have already come up in the area.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-02-08/delhi/31037461_1_illegal-houses-illegal-structures-floodplains

Friday, February 10, 2012

High court of Allahabad - Virendra And Ors. Vs State Of U.P.

HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD, LUCKNOW BENCH

Court No. - 1

Case :- MISC. BENCH No. - 10565 of 2011

Petitioner :- Virendra And Ors. [ P.I.L.] Civil
Respondent :- State Of U.P. Through The Prin. Secy. Govt. Deptt. Revenue
Petitioner Counsel :- S.K.Upadhyaya
Respondent Counsel :- C.S.C.,R.N.Gupta

Hon'ble Pradeep Kant,J.
Hon'ble Surendra Vikram Singh Rathore,J.

The petition contains bald allegations. The parties, who are said to have encroached upon the Gaon Sabha land have also not been impleaded.

The writ petition, therefore, cannot be entertained. However, it is needless to reiterate that if any Gaon Sabha land, may be recorded as Talab, Banjar etc., is encroached upon by any person, it is the duty of the revenue officials to get that encroachment removed and restore the property to Gaon Sabha.

The petitioners' grievance in nutshell is that certain persons have occupied the Gaon Sabha land, allegedly the Talab, for which they rely upon the report of the Lekhpal.

Since the pleadings in the writ petition are absolutely vague and the matter requires evidence, we refrain ourselves from entertaining the writ petition, but dispose of the same with the direction that the District Magistrate shall look into the matter on a representation being made by the petitioners, and shall take necessary effective steps, if it is found that there is any encroachment on the Gaon Sabha land.

Order Date :- 21.10.2011
Sachin

http://elegalix.allahabadhighcourt.in/elegalix/WebShowJudgment.do?judgmentID=1488341

This is an UNCERTIFIED copy for information/reference. For authentic copy please refer to certified copy only. In case of any mistake, please bring it to the notice of Deputy Registrar(Copying).

Thursday, February 9, 2012

News Article: Dumping of garbage shrinks lake

February 8, 2012 By S. Mohammed Rohith DC chennai

Tags: environment, garbage dumping, lake, waste management

Residents of Madambakkam on the southern outskirts of greater Chennai have been complaining about the poor sanitation and hygiene in the area.

Adding to their woes, the once sprawling Madambakkam Lake has now shrunk because of encroachments and the local body is eating into the bunds by dumping hazardous waste.

Despite several representations, local panchayat officials have failed to protect the Madambakam Lake and they have not kep their promises to protect the water body for years, alleged a local.

“The town panchayat has been dumping garbage on the lake bed causing irreparable damage to the lake and the groundwater table,” complained Lt Col C.R. Sundar, a resident of the area.

“People have illegally constructed buildings by the lake bed with the help of mafia who are linked with local officials,” he alleged.

“The need of the hour is to protect the water body that supplements the groundwater table benefiting two lakh residents,” said Mr Thomas, another resident. When asked about the pollution in the lake, Mr Kesavan, executive officer (EO), Madambakkam Town Panchayat, said, “Earlier garbage was being dumped on the lake bed owing to shortage of land. It is now being dumped at a different site allotted to us by the Public Works Department (PWD).”

Responding to a query on unchecked encroachments, the official said that the issue had been brought to the notice of the Kancheepuram collector, who had instructed officials of the concerned departments to act against illegal encroachment in the state as per the directions of the Supreme Court. Legal procedures were being followed and soon action would be taken, the official said.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/chennai/dumping-garbage-shrinks-lake-972

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