Jammu and Kashmir administration two months back ordered that encroachments on state and kacharia land will be removed and in this regard all Deputy Commissioners were asked to start the process and target should be achieved on daily basis and deadline was given for achieving zero balance.There after the case was taken to highest court of country that is Supreme court where two honourable justices did not stayed the order but verbally gave directions to the J&K Government that residential structures should not be demolished constructed on this type of land. A day before this verbal direction LG of Union Territory gave a press briefing that residential houses constructed on this type of land will not be touched by the administration and other structures and remaining land will be retrieved. Common people have a sigh of relief by this statement.
Again this issue was taken to Supreme court few days back and again the court refused to admit the case and in the meantime LG administration retritated that process will continue and the land encroached by Lambay Bazoo Walay will be taken out from them and residential houses will not be affected by this process and five to fifteen Marlins of these types of land will be given to poor people.
There is a provision that a Deputy commissioner can allot five marks of this type of land to any landless person of Jammu & Kashmir and many allotments have been sanctioned in this regard. Now this announcement is not clear yet as it has not been officially ordered and one does not know yet that will be it for landless or all those who have constructed residential structures on it.
If the allotments will be given randomly to all those who are residing on these types of land then at an average of five to ten marks small percentage of this land will be utilized for this but all the persons especially poor will have a sigh of relief and this green signal will sol the entire problem. Thursday this week 25 shops were closed in Aftab market in Srinagar and there was huge and cry as these shopkeepers have paid the rent to Srinagar Municipal Corporation but today early in the morning the administration ordered the opening of these shops means the government is keenly observing that poor people should not be affected by this process and today’s decision in this regard is also welcomed by president Kashmir Traders Alliance president Aijaz Shehalder. This means that administration’s go ahead means it is concerned about livelihood of shopkeepers. Former Congress leader leader and a former opposition leader in Parliament G N Azad also met Home Minister Amit Shah and he was assured that no residential structures will be touched. During the ongoing process means central government is also concerned about the issue and this sends a good message to the people of Jammu & Kashmir, if 5 to15 marlas are not to be touched. Really this is a good step by the administration and one can hope that allotments are given practical shape and people living on such type of lands feel happy like shopkeepers of Aftab market Srinagar.
(The author is Incharge Record Room at DC Office Anantnag. The views, opinions, facts, assumptions, presumptions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the authors and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”.)
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