Uttarakhand: In the course of its special anti-encroachment campaign, the Uttarakhand government has cleared 56 hectares of forest land across the state, officials familiar with the development said on Sunday, razing 27 temples and 200 tombs that were illegally constructed.
The forest department has so far cleared 56 hectares of its land
‘The search for encroachments on forest land is ongoing.’ According to Parag Madhukar Dhakate, ‘chief conservator of forests (CCF) and special assistant to chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, so far 227 unlawfully constructed religious structures, including 200 graves (mazaars) and 27 temples, have been removed from state forest property. There are many different types of encroachments on forest property, including hutments, hotels, residences, and so on.’ On April 19, Dhakate was designated as the nodal officer for locating and eradicating unlawful encroachments on forest land, particularly those concealed as religious and other activities. According to a forest department official, the forest department has so far cleared 56 hectares of its land throughout the Himalayan state as part of the anti-encroachment effort, which was launched last month on the chief minister’s orders.
The chief minister had already expressed alarm over demographic changes in the state
The state administration would verify the background of anyone planning to buy land in the state, the chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami declared last week. “Up until this point, no checks were used while purchasing land in the state. Following the cabinet meeting on May 3, Dhami had told media that the same would now be permitted following a background check of the buyers to learn their motivations for purchasing land in the state, for entering the state, and for relocating here. The chief minister had already expressed alarm over “demographic changes” in the state and pledged to take severe action against unauthorised religious activities. On April 10, Dhami stated that the state of Uttarakhand will not permit ‘Land jihad,’ and that it has “identified roughly 1,000 places where mazaars (tombs) and other structures have been built illegally.”
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BJP rejected the allegations
The opposition Congress, meanwhile, has sharply criticised the action, charging that the BJP government is using “religious polarisation to hide its failures” in the state. ‘The state’s residents want jobs and to put an end to corruption. Instead of doing that, the BJP government is removing mazaars from forest land to distract the public,’ according to Mathura Dutt Joshi, vice-president (organisation) of the state Congress. ‘Everyone is aware of how the BJP exploited religion for political gain.’ BJP rejected the allegations and insisted that all communities’ illegal religious encroachments were being removed as part of the campaign. Manveer Singh Chauhan, state BJP in-charge, said that no one should complain if the state government clears out unlawful encroachments from the state’s forest property. The government is purging all forms of religion intrusion without single-out any one community.
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