Flood disaster in Poonch: High-level inquiry needed against officers involved in allowing illegal constructions in “Red Zone” areas, Chief Minister’s directions ignored, Uttarakhand-type disaster again imminent ; The biggest Poonch administration fraud of the decade needs to be tackled strongly by the government

Flood disaster in Poonch: High-level inquiry needed against officers involved in allowing illegal constructions in “Red Zone” areas, Chief Minister’s directions ignored, Uttarakhand-type disaster again imminent ; The biggest Poonch administration fraud of the decade needs to be tackled strongly by the government

SALIL RAINA

(POONCH TODAY NEWS)

POONCH: On the 1st of August, 2013, “POONCH TODAY” published a story with the title “Poonch: Another Uttarakhand in the making. Unabated constructions along the river pose a threat to Poonch town; administration is in deep slumber. “After the publication of the story, the then administration termed the story an imaginary idea and a fake one.

But after one year, the calculated prediction of “POONCH TODAY” came true as Poonch witnessed the worst ever flood in September 2014, cutting the link of Poonch to the rest of the country in addition to damaging property worth several crores. A number of people died in that horrifying flood. After that devastation, the then district administration, vide no. DMP/J/3247-57 dated 31-12-2014, declared the area a “Red Zone,” banning all types of construction and repair/restoration of existing buildings along both banks of the Suran River in washed-away areas near the Sher-E-Kashmir bridge from the police line to the confluence of Betar Nullah. Despite this order, some people with questionable credentials started their operations in a silent way in the same state/private land area by indulging in hand-in-glove acts with the revenue department officials and started raising illegal structures. “POONCH TODAY” highlighted the matter time and again in the interest of public safety, but the poor response from the successive district administrations was a clear indication that officials of the revenue department were involved in scripting this scam. Following publication of regular reports by “POONCH TODAY” against illegal constructions in the “Red Zone,” the then district administration again issued a notice on 27-10-2018 directing the concerned departments to submit the action taken report against illegal constructions. Despite issuing notice and conducting the videography of the entire area, the law violators continued to raise illegal structures by capturing natural springs, irrigation channels, PWD embankments, and a huge chunk of state/private land with the help of revenue authorities and built illegal structures. On the one hand, some people continued to raise illegal structures, but at the same time, one of the minority families was not allowed to construct their structure on their personal land, and it shows that the law of the land is different for the majority and minority in the “Red Zone.” Only two DCs, namely M.H. Malik and Rahul Yadav (IAS), had shown some concern towards the “Red Zone” issue, while others reportedly supported the law violators.  The failure of successive administrations was judged from the fact that a number of buildings have been constructed openly in front of culverts constructed for smooth passage of water in case of flood-related issues. A big portion of land on which a number of illegal constructions have taken place was state land and was planned for establishing a nursery/fruit mandi of the horticulture department near the S.K. Bridge. The government earlier got this land for the construction of the S.K. bridge, but some people, with the full support of the zone’s revenue department officials, changed the revenue record multiple times in their favor and continued to dodge the public in general and the district administration in particular, claiming the land belonged to them. The said state land near the S.K. Bridge was purchased and sold multiple times through illegal means, and it’s a matter of deep investigation for which a high-level inquiry is needed. On the one hand, the Poonch municipality many times said that the area falls under the BDO Poonch office, and the Poonch municipality has nothing to do with it. But CEO Poonch municipality, in a double-faced act, wrote a letter no. MC/P/2019/294-96 dated 08-05-2019 to DC Poonch demanding the transfer of state land for the construction of a bus stand in the same area, which was earlier banned for all types of construction by the district administration. The letter from the municipality was clear proof that some portion of land on both sides of the main road is state land, but on what basis was the land on other sides, which was also state land, allowed to be encroached upon by some people who later built illegal shops and buildings in complete mockery of the rules? Who allowed the construction of shops, private structures, and a bus stand in the “Red Zone” by throwing the taxpayers’ money into the Poonch River?  Who allowed the construction of the DDC Chairperson’s office and quarters in the “Red Zone,” which also suffered during the recent flood? Who allowed illegal mining from Buffliaz to Jhullas and the establishment of various illegal stone crushers near the riverbed areas? It is pertinent to mention here that after the September 2014 floods, the work on the protection bund was started, but the design of the bund was later changed by the concerned department. They also allowed the land grabbers to capture maximum space to raise their illegal structures. The then Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who visited the site, gave direction for the construction of five new pillars to save the future, but some people, least caring about the future of Poonch City, forced the administration through a secret deal to construct only two pillars, thereby allowing them to raise their illegal structures. It’s shocking that a few land grabbers have managed to dodge the entire Poonch administration and public for years with their mala fide intention of capturing state/private lands and building illegal structures in the “Red Zone’. It’s a high-level fraud of decades in which various departments of the Poonch administration have been involved. Why was no effort made from the administration to retrieve the state land from the clutches of some people”? Why was no action taken against them for raising illegal constructions on state/private lands in addition to capturing the irrigation canal and embankment in the same “Red Zone” area? From S.K. Bridge to Star Hotel, a number of illegal structures have been built in an area that was declared a “red zone” by the administration, and some illegal structures are still under construction near the main road with the full indirect support of the administration. Reportedly, some whistleblowers in media and a few officers grabbed this opportunity with folded hands and earned a lot from the land grabbers by threatening to highlight the issue of their illegal constructions. The question arises: were the offices of the ACR, Tehsildar Haveli, BDO Poonch, Poonch Municipality, and the executive engineer of the PWD, Jal Shakti, and irrigation departments involved in this high-profile scam in the “Red Zone”? Despite openly capturing irrigation canals by some people and later constructing illegal shops on them, the concerned department failed to take action against them. The PWD department also failed to retrieve its embankment from the clutches of land grabbers. The PDD and Jal Shakti departments have spent crores of rupees of taxpayers’ money in the “Red Zone” area by providing electricity and water connections, for which a high-level inquiry is needed against the concerned executive engineers. Who issued NOCs to all structures constructed illegally? To blackmail and dodge the administration, a private building initially constructed in the “Red Zone” for educational purposes was deliberately given the shape of a pious makeup as a shelter for all illegal constructions. Look at the fraud of Poonch Municipality. While replying to an RTI activist vide no. MC/P/2022/372-73 dated 12-05-2022, the Poonch municipality said that the area near S.K. Bridge doesn’t fall within the jurisdiction of Municipal Council Poonch and no site plan was sanctioned by Poonch Municipality near the riverbed area, but on what basis did the officers of the Poonch municipality, vide no. MC/P/2019/294-96 dated 08-05-2019, seek the transfer of state land from DC Poonch for the construction of a new bus stand in the “Red Zone”? It clearly shows that the area falls within the limits of Poonch municipality; that’s why the Poonch municipality sought the transfer of land. The district administration, vide its no. DCP/ARA/294-305 dated 19-03-2015, notified a number of Khasra nos. in the Red Zone in village Kanyuian (92 khasra nos. having a total area of 1,222 kanals and 9 marlas) and Sher-Khas (192 khasra nos. having a total area of 2673 kanals and 3 marlas) and banned all types of constructions in those Khasra nos., but who cares, as huge illegal constructions have taken place in structures of those Khasra nos.? Exclusive documents are available with “POONCH TODAY,” which shows that how this biggest blunder of the decade was allowed to take place by some officials of the administration by supporting the land grabbers. Near the S.K. bridge, the land grabbers have also encroached on Kahcharai land, on which a huge number of illegal shops and residential structures have been built with the direct involvement of the revenue department, and such an open fraud shows that only illegal money matters in the revenue department and not rules. Purely in the public interest and keeping in view the safety of Poonch town, “POONCH TODAY” highlighted the matter a number of times, but shockingly, many social media persons also highlighted the matter by getting the ideas from the contents of “POONCH TODAY” stories and later managed to settle down financially with the land grabbers, but “POONCH TODAY,” which is known for its professional journalism, did not buckle under any pressure and continued to expose the land grabber-administration nexus for years. The recent Bela colony tragedy of Rajouri; the washing away of a service station near the S.K. bridge area; and the disaster in various places of the Poonch district, in which twenty-two people lost their precious lives in Loran (Mandi), the Murrah area of Surankote, and other areas, the Poonch administration needs to learn a strong lesson, as land grabbers are still doing their illegal construction activities at various places, right from the Star Hotel to the S.K. bridge area, and it clearly shows that the district administration, particularly the revenue department, is openly involved in this high-level fraud. Just a few days of heavy rains and the massive damage it causes show that Poonch is heading for another “Uttarakhand”-type disaster because the administration has continuously allowed the illegal constructions in the “Red Zone.” More than two years ago, a former IAS DC, in a purely visionless decision, by throwing taxpayers’ money into the Poonch River, allowed the construction of a jogger park on the unfit protection bund in the “Red Zone” area just to protect the land grabbers, and now the said protection bund is also under threat from future floods. Although the officials of the district administration visited the protection bund and accepted the fact that the bund is under threat and appropriate measures were taken to protect it, it seems to be a fruitless exercise. Going by the past response to various disasters, it’s an indication that a few bureaucrats posted at Poonch were short of vision and were also involved in this fraud. A high-level inquiry is needed against those officers who allowed these illegal constructions in the “Red Zone” near the Poonch River and in other riverbed areas of the Poonch District, who allowed illegal mining from the Buffliaz to Jhulas rivers, and who allowed the establishment of illegal stone crushers and hot mixer plants near the riverbed areas. The inquiry must detect how the revenue records of state land near S.K. Bridge were changed in a haphazard manner in favor of land grabbers, as there are reports that BDO Poonch approved site plans of many houses by taking huge sums of money from the land grabbers. Due to the mushrooming of large-scale illegal constructions in the “Red Zone”, the existence of Poonch town is under grave threat. It’s high time for the government to intervene by ordering a high-level inquiry into the issue, or the continued menace of illegal constructions and illegal mining in riverbed areas will become a cause for a big “Uttarakhand”-type disaster again in Poonch City.