Residents raise alarm over encroachment in Ghasola

Construction work began on the plot in question on Sunday, residents alleged, in contravention of multiple legal mandates, which prohibit such activities on common use land.

GURGAON Updated: Jun 19, 2019, 01:30 IST

After noticing unauthorised construction activity on a plot adjacent to the village’s agricultural lands, the residents of the area lodged a written complaint with the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram(MCG), the commissioner of police, the department of town and country planning(DTCP), the Haryana Shahri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) and the deputy commissioner, on Monday

After noticing unauthorised construction activity on a plot adjacent to the village’s agricultural lands, the residents of the area lodged a written complaint with the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram(MCG), the commissioner of police, the department of town and country planning(DTCP), the Haryana Shahri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) and the deputy commissioner, on Monday

Residents of Ghasola village in Sector 49 have raised alarm over alleged encroachments on common land in the area. After noticing unauthorised construction activity on a plot adjacent to the village’s agricultural lands, the residents of the area lodged a written complaint with the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram(MCG), the commissioner of police, the department of town and country planning(DTCP), the Haryana Shahri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) and the deputy commissioner, on Monday.

Construction work began on the plot in question on Sunday, residents alleged, in contravention of multiple legal mandates, which prohibit such activities on common use land.

Satnam Singh, the main petitioner, said that the plot was originally marked as “panchayat deh” in revenue records, before it was taken over by the HSVP (formerly known as Haryana Urban Development Authority or Huda) in 2009 for maintaining a green belt along the Southern Peripheral Road. “When the MCG was formed in 2010, the land was transferred to them,” said Singh, who owns an inherited plot of agricultural land just opposite the site in question.

Another resident, requesting anonymity, said, “We noticed that earthmovers were levelling the soil and clearing it of vegetation on Sunday. When we approached the workers, they said they were hired by the MCG and were building a cremation site. However, they could not produce any letter from the authority. On inquiring with the MCG on Monday, we were told that no such construction had been sanctioned.”

The resident also pointed out that there were two other cremation grounds in the 700-metre radius of the alleged encroachment.

Harish Parashar, chief town planner, MCG, and additional commissioner, Inderjit Kularia, declined to comment on the matter, saying they were not aware of any developments. However, an executive engineer, requesting anonymity, said, “As per protocol, the complaint will be forwarded to the enforcement wing, which will corroborate the land’s ownership and take action if needed.”

Usurping of common land, activists said, was rampant across the city, particularly in newer sectors and peri-urban areas, where land sharks operate to feed the city’s growing appetite for developable land. There are presently 230 cases of such encroachments, involving 136 acres of common land, under different panchayats of Gurugram that are pending before sub-divisional magistrates.

S Ailawadi, an advocate specialising in land disputes in Gurugram and Faridabad, said, “This sort of construction will negatively affect the surrounding agricultural community, who rely on common use lands for daily sustenance. It also sets a poor precedent for the protection of panchayat lands, which the Supreme Court and the high court have upheld via multiple orders. Strict action needs to be taken to protect these environmentally important green spaces.”

The issue was also recently addressed by union minister and member of Parliament from Gurugram, Rao Inderjit Singh, at an event commemorating World Environment Day in the city. Speaking about the need to preserve common lands and green spaces in the city, Singh said, “Gurugram’s land has been exploited to a large extent by certain lobbies. People need to join hands so that builders, and those in the government, who are close to these lobbyists, can be kept at bay.” Singh also stressed on the need for community action to protect such common lands.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/gurgaon/residents-raise-alarm-over-encroachment-in-ghasola/story-o3iJuyelN6M3d4lPaPSMMK.html

HC upholds woman sarpanch’s disqualification over encroachment of govt land

Mohammed Akhef | TNN | Updated: Dec 25, 2020

Aurangabad: The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay high court has dismissed a writ petition by Taslimbee Akram Pathan challenging her disqualification in July 2019 as woman sarpanch of Gram Panchayat Umravati in Phulambri taluka of Aurangabad on the grounds of encroachment of a government land in the village by her family.

Pathan was elected sarpanch of Umravati in 2017. Later, Sadiq Hussain, a gram panchayat member, complained to the district collector that she, her husband and father-in-law had encroached a `Gayraan’ (cattle grazing) land, which is a government property, and raised a food godown there. A subsequent panchanama by the revenue authorities had confirmed the encroachment.

After a hearing process, the district collector ordered Pathan’s disqualification on July 22, 2019 under the provisions of the Maharashtra Village Panchayats Act 1959 and the divisional commissioner dismissed her appeal on October 7, 2020 against the collector’s decision. Pathan then moved the high court.

Pathan’s key argument in her defence was that she and her husband were living separately from her father-in-law and the encroached structure cannot be attributed to her, but to her father-in-law and, hence, she should not be disqualified. She also argued that her ration card was separate from the ration card of her father-in-law.

Lawyer Devdutt Palodkar, representing Hussain, had countered the argument by pointing out that the land was encroached in 2001 and the petitioner got married only in 2010, besides, there was no evidence to show that she and her husband were living separately from her father-in-law.

The bench of Justice Mangesh Patil observed, “There is no record to show that and it is nobody’s case that the respondent Nos. 7 and 8 (Pathan’s husband and father-in-law, respectively) are separate by metes and bounds in all respects. If the encroached portion is being used as a godown for storage of grains, being a member of the family which is not separate by metes and bounds, the petitioner can certainly be attributed with the use of the encroached premises.”

The bench also noted that the names of the woman sarpanch and her husband were separated from the ration card only three months prior to the sarpanch elections in 2017. Read more at:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/79945985.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Over 15% of 15,000 village ponds encroached upon

A senior officer in the Rural Development Department admitted that “15 to 20 per cent ponds across the state are facing encroachment problem” that is either permanent or temporary.

Written by Anju Agnihotri Chaba | Jalandhar | July 16, 2020 10:31:41 am

Over 15% of 15,000 village ponds encroached upon.  One of the ponds before and after restoration. Express photo

As the Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered removal of all kinds of encroachments from village ponds to revive, repair and rejuvenate them, reports from the ground revealed that “around 15 to 20 per cent of village ponds” in the state have been encroached upon illegally.

While cleaning and maintenance of these ponds is under the Rural Development and Panchayat Department, some village ponds have been rejuvenated by the Department of Soil and Water Conservation, Punjab, for irrigation purpose.

A senior officer in the Rural Development Department admitted that “15 to 20 per cent ponds across the state are facing encroachment problem” that is either permanent or temporary.

Village ponds are common lands that are governed by Punjab Village Common Land (Regulation) Act, 1961. There are over 13,000 villages in Punjab that have around 15,000 ponds/water bodies.

Under permanent encroachment, pucca houses have been constructed by the people, while under temporary encroachment, poor landless people from low-caste communities have been using it for keeping their cattle, storing fodder, growing vegetables and making cowdung cakes.

“As per norms, five-marla plots are to be provided to the poor and landless residents of the village belonging to the SC community provided Shamlat land is available with the village panchayat. There are many such instances where Shamlat land is available and even resolutions have been passed by the previous gram panchayats for distributing this land among the poor and landless, but actual physical distribution and handing over these plots to those eligible have yet not been made. This has led to encroachment of ponds,” said the senior functionary of the Rural Development Department.

He added that there were only few reports of illegal mining as it is difficult to execute due to the close proximity of the ponds to villages.

District Development and Panchyat Officers (DDPO), Jalandhar, Iqbaljeet Singh, said that there are total 815 village ponds in Jalandhar and there are some reports of encroachments, which will be cleared.

DDPO, Kapurthala, Harcharan Singh Sandhu, said there are some cases of encroachments left, while during pre-monsoon cleaning temporary encroachments were cleared.

“For removal of permanent encroachments, we are getting the eviction orders under Section 7 of the Act,” said another DDPO of Doaba region.

Currently, the department is taking up the dewatering and desilting campaign of these ponds with the help of panchayat funds and NRI donations. This campaign was started last year. All the wastewater from households flows into these ponds.

“With the increase in piped drinking water supply system to the households in villages, the water flowing into these ponds has increased considerably over the years. Often village ponds are seen overflowing and water enters houses becoming a source of several diseases,” said DDPO Sandhu, adding that with dewatering and desilting now this problem has been arrested in the majority of the villages.

As for as importance of village ponds is concerned, DDPO, Kapurthala, said: “Village ponds are highly useful water bodies as they not only carry wastewater of all the households, but also if managed properly this water can be highly useful for irrigation purpose after filtration and cleaning…Also these ponds are being used for fish culture after cleaning which helps in keeping the pond clean and is a source of earning for poor villagers.”

Lupinder Kumar, Divisional Soil Conservation Officer, Jalandhar, said: “Pond water is helping in recharging of groundwater and assured irrigation for several farmers in the respective villages.”

The Department of Soil and Water Conservation Punjab, sources said, has rejuvenated 54 village ponds of over-exploited blocks’ of eight districts of Punjab and this is helping in irrigating 1,139 hectares (2,813 acres) in these villages.

With Punjab’s 80 per cent agricultural blocks over-exploited, these ponds can change the groundwater scenario to some extent.

Sources added that under current rejuvenation schemes, water holding capacity of the pond is increased which is used for irrigation as stagnant water in these ponds leads to various health hazards in the villages besides numerous other environmental, economic and social impacts.

Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan) president Joinder Singh said that there are negligible cases of mining linked to village ponds.

 

https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/over-15-of-15000-village-ponds-encroached-upon-6508291/

Encroachments rising by the day, most of Court's valuable time is spent on encroachment cases: Madras High Court

While disposing of a batch of encroachment cases from 2018, Court also recommended that the State government create Taluk-level teams to check on encroachments.

Meera Emmanuel

Published on: 24 Dec, 2020, 3:02 pm

With a rising number of cases concerning land or water encroachment, most the High Court's valuable time is spent on such encroachment cases, the Madras High Court observed on Wednesday.

The menace of encroachments is increasing day by day, the Court observed, adding that time the could have been spent on other cases requiring the Court’s attention is being spent on encroachment cases.

The Court noted that this can be discerned from the large number of encroachment cases pending before both the Principal and Madurai Benches of the Madras High Court.

The Bench of Justices N Kirubakaran and B Pugalendhi noted there has been no improvement in terms of removing encroachments in Tamil Nadu, going on to to opine that it cannot entirely blame government officials for failing to promptly act in such cases as the encroachers are often rich and powerful. There is no security for the life or jobs of the government officials, the Court remarked.

While disposing of a batch of encroachment cases from 2018, Court further recommended that the State create Taluk-level teams to check on encroachments, comprising of revenue officials, police officials, panchayat representatives, survey officials, members of the PWD etc. This committee should not be disturbed at least for three years, the Court said.

There cannot be any misplaced sympathy for encroachers, the Court reiterated, adding that it would create a bad precedent if the encroachment is ratified.

In this case, the Bench directed that the encroachers vacate the premises within 4 months from the order. The State was ordered to check if the persons on the encroached land were below the poverty line or not. If they were not well off, the Court has directed the government to rehabilitate them as per law.

“With great pain we have taken this decision”, Court orally added. after dictating the order.

 

https://www.barandbench.com/news/litigation/most-of-courts-valuable-time-is-spent-on-encroachment-cases-madras-high-court