10,000 kanals of state land under illegal occupation in Srinagar: J&K Administration

10,000 kanals of state land is under the "illegal" occupation of citizens in the summer capital of the Union Territory, says the Jammu and Kashmir administration.

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir): The Jammu and Kashmir administration has said that 10,000 kanals of state land is under the "illegal" occupation in the summer capital of the Union Territory.

Following the High Court directions to publish names of the illegal land occupiers on the government website, the divisional administration in the Kashmir Valley has listed 5,972 persons as “illegal land grabbers" in the city, claiming that more than 10,000 kanals of state land have been occupied by citizens in Srinagar district.

The administration said that the occupiers included government employees, farmers and traders.

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court had last year directed the UT administration to find out the state land occupies and publish their names on the websites of divisional commissioners of both Kashmir and Jammu divisions.

The direction was given after the top court in the UT termed illegal the much-hyped Roshni Scheme and asked the government to retrieve all the land grabbed by the people under the scheme and the state land as well.

As many as 4557 persons have been listed in Proforma-C (State land encroachment – recorded in revenue records, other than Roshni) and 1415 have been listed in Proforma-D (State land encroachment physically, but not shown in Revenue records, other than Roshni).

The administration had during the DDC elections last year published names of former ministers and officials who it claimed had occupied the government land under the scheme.

The ruling BJP had created a massive campaign against the regional political parties including NC, PDP and Congress during the DDC elections using the Roshni Scheme.

However, the administration later filed a review appeal in the High Court appealing that the court relooks into its directions as "a majority of common people" were getting affected by the decision.

The administration has also started retrieving state land in other districts to create a land bank for setting up industrial estates in these places.