Dismiss officials involved in encroachment of JDA land: LG Murmu

Amid massive land encroachment of Jammu Development Authority (JDA) due to failure of its enforcement wing, Lieutenant Governor Girish Chander Murmu on Friday directed Vice-Chairman of the organisation to dismiss officials who fail to perform their duty or in any way connived with the encroachers.

To inspect the pace of work and to get a first hand appraisal of the several developmental projects undertaken in the winter capital, Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu on Friday conducted an extensive tour of Jammu city.

The Lt Governor, during the review of JDA asked the Vice Chairman Rajiv Ranjan to ensure that enforcement staff is sensitized to keep the encroachers of JDA land at bay.

He directed the VC to devise a mechanism of ensuring every official of the enforcement wing has a particular land parcel allotted to him for surveillance against encroachment and if at all the said official fails to perform their duty or in any way connives with the encroachers, the said official should be penalized to the extent of dismissal from service, if need be.

LG further directed the officers to fix conspicuous "government land" signboards in and around all state lands, community water bodies within a period of 15 days, take immediate steps for demarcation of all such lands, and make provision for constructing boundary walls around them along with plantation of trees.

Since 1973, the J-K government had transferred 9,479 acres of land to the JDA for development and out of which 6,818 acres of land has not been demarcated, officials said.

The massive crackdown against encroachers was carried out in compliance to the directions of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court last year.

The court had pulled up the Jammu Development Authority enforcement wingand the revenue department for repeated massive encroachment of state land.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had also rapped the JDA for failing to retrieve encroached lands in Jammu city and Rs 147 crore worth prime property, including illegal allotment of Rs 116 crore land to a non-state subject in Jammu, during the last 18 years.