They fight to keep our land safe but 9,600 acres of defence land leaves MoD in legal tangle
The Ministry of Defence has informed the Parliament that over 9,600 acres of defence land across the country has been encroached upon.
In Short
- Over 9,600 acres of defence land across the country faces encroachment
- Rajnath Singh's ministry informed the Parliament on Monday
- Army had written to the govt last year saying encroachment has caused them losses
Over 9,600 acres of defence land across the country faces encroachment leading to legal battles between the Ministry of Defence with various states and municipal bodies.
Defence land spread over 9622.807 acres has been reported to be encroached across the country, the Ministry of Defence informed Parliament on Monday.
Uttar Pradesh, with over 2,000 acres of encroached defence land tops among the states while Maharashtra comes second with 923 acres.
Other states with large tracts of land belonging to the defence forces include Haryana (538 acres), Rajasthan (475 acres), West Bengal (558 acres), Assam (460 acres) and Bihar (478 acres).
Conflict-hit Jammu and Kashmir with sensitive installations that are always under the target of terrorists, also has 339 acres of defence land encroached.
In national capital Delhi, 111 acres of defence land have been encroached upon.
Last year the Army had written to the Ministry of Defence stating that over 1,200 acres of its land has been encroached upon, leading to financial problems as it did not get equal value of the land against the land encroached or transferred to state governments.
The Army has proposed that with state governments failing to give equal value land they be asked to pay money that can be put to use for various projects and given a push to modernisation plans.
However, the proposal could not fructify any positive results for the Army.
"Detection, prevention and removal of encroachment is a continuous exercise. Action for removal of encroachment on defence land is taken under the provisions of Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971 as well as under the Cantonment Act, 2006. Cases are also taken up with state or municipal authorities for resolution of the problem," MoD said in Parliament.
The government has also has undertaken steps like digitisation of land records and audits of defence lands to check encroachment.
"Court cases are being pursued to evict encroachers. Close liaison is being maintained with revenue and civil police authorities to detect attempt to encroach upon the defence land by encroachers," MoD stated.
Defence lands located in isolated locations are being fenced and regular patrolling is being carried out to safeguard the lands from encroachers and unauthorised construction.