Shopkeepers given 4 days time to voluntarily surrender illegal structures: Tehsildar

PAMPORE: Tehsil Administration Pampore on Wednesday carried out a major eviction cum demolition drive in this Saffron Town and retrieved around 400 kanals of state and Kahcharai land worth crores of rupees. The eviction cum demolition drive was conducted in the Bagandar and Namblabal areas.
The tehsil administration appealed to all those who have set up their shops on state land to surrender within 3 to 4 days failing which their shops will be demolished. It appealed to the people to cooperate with the revenue department in removing encroachments.
A tehsil official told Kashmir Reader that a massive anti-encroachment operation was launched in the Saffron Town, during which over 400 kanals of state land and Kahcharai land worth Rs 175 crore was retrieved. He said special anti-encroachment squads constituted by the revenue department Pampore headed by Tehsildar Pampore Zuber Ahmad Bhat who took the assistance of the joint team led by Naib Tehsildar Pampore Javaid Ahmad Executive Officer Municipal Committee Mohammad Iqbal and AEE R&B Mushtaq Ahmad and other officials.
During the drive, a team also demolished some illegal structures constructed on government land. “200 kanals of state land were evicted at Bagandar and 150 kanals at Namblabal,” Tehsildar Pampore, Zubair Ahmad Bhat said, adding that a total of around 400 kanals of state and Kahcharai land were evicted in the drive.
He said that an orchard on 15 kanals of Kahcharai land was handed to the horticulture department. “There will be zero tolerance against any kind of encroachment of state land, encroachers are asked either to evict encroached land themselves or they will be evicted by the government by way of demolition of illegal structures,” he said.
There are clear-cut instructions from the government for dismantling all kinds of commercial establishments on state land, he said. He, however, said that the government has not issued any instructions to them with regard to residential houses on state land.
“Instructions of government in this regard will be implemented when they are issued,” he said, adding that the eviction drive will be continued till it is taken to its conclusion.
“Announcements were also made on the public address system asking shopkeepers to free State /Kahcharai land voluntarily within 4 days failing which they face eviction by the administration,” he said.

BILAL HABIB