800 bighas of govt land freed from encroachment in Bhati village

NEW DELHI : Nearly 800 bighas of government land was on Tuesday freed from encroachment in Bhati village of south Delhi during a demolition drive conducted by the district administration.

The administration had identified encroachments on about 450 acres of forest and Gram Sabha lands in Bhati village. A public notice was published in Hindi, English and Urdu languages on August 3, warning people to remove encroachments within 15 days.

District magistrate (south), Amjad Tak said that the removal of encroachment on government land in Bhati village was being taken up in a phased manner.

“In first phase, 166 acre (800 bighas) was freed today (Tuesday).this includes forest and Gram Sabha lands. In the second phase, 100 acres and in the third phase 235 acres of lands would be freed,” Tak said.

He added that encroachments on the government land have been identified in other villages too such as Sahoorpur, Chhatarpur, Maidangarhi, Rajpur Khurd, Dera Mandi, Aya Nagar, Jonapur, Deoli, Neb Sarai and Saidulajab.

“A survey maps of these villages have also been prepared. The district administration is planning to remove the encroachments on all government lands in phased manner within next six months,” he said.

Government officials said in south district most government lands are under encroachment by farm houses, boundary walls, religious sects, unauthorised constructions, etc. Majority of the land under encroachment is forest land while the other category of belongs to Gram Sabha.

The operation began at 7am by three teams headed by SDM Saket, SDM Mehrauli, and SDM Hauz Khas. The officials from the forest department and Gram Sabha were also part of the operation. Heavy police deployment was done to avert any untoward incident. Nearly 100 civil defence volunteers and 20 JCB machines were used during the demolition drive.