Alwar (Rajasthan): Amid the controversy over the demolition of a temple in Rajasthan, an incident of the administration bulldozing a cowshed allegedly set up without permission on 'forest land' in the Kathumar area has come to the fore.
According to the inputs from the ground, the cowshed has been demolished in Alwar with the administration making no alternate arrangements for hundreds of cows which were kept in it. Set up a decade ago, the Hanuman Gaushala located in Maithna village of Kathumar subdivision headquarters was demolished on April 21 by the forest department with a bulldozer considering it as an encroachment.
According to the forest department, the cowshed was built on land "illegally occupied" and had to be removed to make the area encroachment free. The cowshed housed around 400 cows. Sources said that there was a wave of anger among the local Hindutva organisations after the video of the cowshed being demolished went viral on social media.
Laxmangarh Ranger, Jatin Sen said that the cowshed was set up on 40 bighas of forest land. "In it, 400 small and large cows were being nurtured. In compliance with the order of the year 2020 of the Assistant Conservator of Forests Court, Rajgarh, a notice was issued to the operator of the Gaushala in December 2021 to vacate it and move the cows, but the operator did not comply with the notice," he said.
On Thursday, the Forest Department took action to remove the encroachment. A large number of villagers and officials of the Forest Department, Kathumar Police, and Revenue Department were present at the demolition site. To remove the encroachment, the Gaushala operator had asked for ten days, but "due to the protest of the villagers, he was not given time," sources said.
Kathumar Sub-Divisional Officer Ramkishore Meena said a camp had been set up by the administration in the past, in which the case of encroachment on forest land by setting up a cowshed came up. "Following it we took action against the encroachment," he said.
Also read: 300-year-old Temple Demolition: Gehlot govt-issued notice to BJP-ruled Municipal Board
