Chandigarh, December 31
The Department of Rural Development and Panchayats had launched a campaign this year to get rid of illegal possessions and demarcation of panchayat lands in villages. Under this, encroachments have been razed from over 9,389 acres of panchayat land.
Rural Development and Panchayat Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said here today that old records related to shamlat were being examined thoroughly and 153 blocks had been covered so far. He said the department had identified 1,39,818 acres of land, to be used for the welfare of people.
Dhaliwal said this year, a total of 6,206 acres of land under Patiala division had been freed from illegal possessions and handed over to panchayats concerned for adequate use. He said illegal possessions from 1,100 acres of land of Patiala, 808 acres of Ludhiana, 464 acres of Fatehgarh Sahib, 194 acres of Sangrur, 3,469 acres of SAS Nagar, 154 acres of Rupnagar, 8 acres of Barnala and 9 acres of land of Malerkotla have been razed with the help of law enforcement agencies.
A total of 507 acres of land under Ferozepur division has been freed from illegal occupation. He said illegal structures were razed from 128 acres of Ferozepur district, 187 acres of Fazilka, 27 acres of Sri Muktsar Sahib, 13 acres of Mansa, 49 acres of Bathinda, 26 acres of Moga and 77 acres of Faridkot. Similarly, illegal structures were removed from 2,676 acres under Jalandhar division. He said 609 acres of Gurdaspur, 602 acres of Kapurthala, 264 acres of Amritsar, 239 acres of Jalandhar, 308 acres of Hoshiarpur, 126 acres of Tarn Taran, 228 acres of SBS Nagar and 300 acres of Pathankot, too, were freed from illegal occupants.