Encroachment Drive And Fisheries Units

Government of Jammu and Kashmir is busy in retrievation process of its land encroached by many people illegally and in this regard Honourable High court of Jammu and Kashmir has already directed the Government to complete the process without any fail and keeping the directions of the court in view government has taken actions on war footing basis and has put its many departments on the task of retreivation like Revenue and Rural Development and Housing and Urban Development Department including Irrigation and Flood control departments. These departments are working restlessly and have retrieved many patches of state owned land and Kacharia land and have demolished many structures that have been constructed illegally. This land land is the property of Government and without permission nobody has right to take it into possession. As per figures government land or Kacharia land is almost found in each village of Jammu and Kashmir and has been encroached everywhere. Retreivation process is a good step as this land is and can be used for common purposes of people. Like Kacharia land the land around the banks of streams and other water bodies that are used to irrigate the agricultural and horticultural fields is also Shamilat section 4 land and as per law is also the government property and encroachments on such lands either by fencing or by construction is illegal. Many people have brought these patches adjoining streams under fencing and other people when going to fetch water to their fields have to go even miles by walk instead when they were supposed to walk only few yards and also many people have converted these patches into fields resulting the stream that was once 30 to 50 ft wide has been narrowed down and today it has taken the shape of a concrete channel constructed by Rural Development Department that is hardly 3 to 5 feet wide.This is the situation of each water body and Kouls in the entire J&K resulting water of these streams came in residential areas in 2014 floods. Like Revenue department that has taken the job of retrivation of State and Kacharia land Department of Irrigation and Flood control too has taken this assignment in hand and has issued notices to encroached in each village and have displayed these on electric poles and especially on the main door of mosques in which it has been stated that within a week’s time you are advised to cut down trees and demolish the structures at your own otherwise stern actions will be taken.
Here is a big question many qualified but unemployed youths have established Fish Farms on the banks of these streams that too by the permission and financial support of Fisheries department and they have worked hard and are giving employment to other qualified unemployed youths too. These units are revenue cum employment generating units and it is possible only when government is supporting them and even Finance Minister recently in her budget address admitted that government is duty bound to help the units already existing and will help the unemployed youths to start fresh ones in each sector whether it may be agricultural or horticultural or any other land,but one must think that these units are possible only on banks of streams where water is available in plenty. In my opinion the Department of Irrigation and Flood control must think about it and may not force these unemployed youths to show revenue papers as it is understood many among these youths may have started their units which may be not their property land. Same is the situation with many unemployed youths who are running small shops on Shamilat land alongside roads and are earning their livelihood. A person of age 37 came in the office of the author and asked for revenue papers of his ancestral property and told that yesterday a patwari came and ordered to close the shop immediately and further added that your shop is in Kacharia land and I closed the shop. I am a graduate and am feeding ten persons of my family and am earning my livelihood. He further stated that I tired many times but failed to get a government job and then I constructed a shop in front of my residential house few years back. My house is on propriety land and today despite knowing that he earns livelihood on this shop I was asked to close it. This is not only me thousands of unemployed youths are in such a situation. Government must intervene in this matter and instead of closure of these employment and revenue generating units it is best government must impose rent this man further added. The conversation with this man gave me the idea about this write up and I think it is best that these departments go through the contents of speech given by Finance Minister in her budget speech in parliament.
(Author is in charge record room 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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