Revenue department’s double standard on illegal encroachment in the ‘Red Zone” is questionable; No action taken against encroachments on State/Kahcharai/Forest lands

Revenue department’s double standard on illegal encroachment in the ‘Red Zone” is questionable; No action taken against encroachments on State/Kahcharai/Forest lands

POONCH TODAY NEWS

POONCH: The Revenue Department Poonch always remained in the news on one or another issue. The tainted officials of the department remained involved in multiple land-related frauds and earned heavily for years. A former revenue officer once converted state land into a personal one after indulging in hand-in-glove acts, and the same personal land was later transferred to the government for the laying of a high transmission line, which goes through the Mughal road area.

By adopting shrewd tactics, the said revenue officer and the person in whose name the land was converted earned heavily. It was just the tip of an iceberg, as there are thousands of stories of various land-related frauds scripted by the tainted officials of the revenue department in Poonch. Over the years, thousands of kanals of State/Kahcharai/Forest lands have been encroached with the involvement of revenue officials from top to bottom, and the shocking fact is that the same lands are still under illegal occupation, but no efforts have been made by the government to retrieve them. The matter was discussed at the higher level two years ago, and according to the reports, the LG expressed his dissatisfaction with the Poonch administration for failing to take action against encroachments on government assets at various places. Highly placed sources told “POONCH TODAY” that the government had sought a detailed report from the Poonch administration over illegal constructions and encroachments of state/Kahcharai/forest lands. It is pertinent to mention here that the issue of illegal encroachments and constructions at various places remained in the media for years, but some officers of the Poonch administration never took action against them because of the reportedly hand-in-glove influence of a few revenue and administrative officers with those who were involved in such illegal acts. The horrible 2014 and 2025 floods and the massive devastation caused by floods have given a big lesson to all. Unfortunately, over the years, massive illegal constructions have taken place in the “Red Zone” areas with the full support of revenue officials. Even water bodies, culverts, and irrigation canals were encroached upon, but the revenue department never took action against the wrongdoers. The revenue department adopted a double standard attitude as against weak people; the department used to serve notices and threatened demolition drives in the same “Red Zone” areas, but against powerful land mafia, the same revenue department preferred to adopt silence against those who were involved in brazen illegal constructions in the same “Red Zone” and illegal encroachments of various government assets, including forest lands. It shows indirect support of the revenue department to the land mafia. Due to massive illegal constructions in the “Red Zone,” the existence of Poonch town is in grave danger. Locals have sought the attention of the government and demanded an inquiry commission to identify those officers and revenue officials who have played a wrong role over the years in allowing illegal constructions, encroachment of personal/state/Kahcharai lands, encroachment of forest lands, and other government assets. A former DC Poonch once asked revenue officials to show their monthly performance related to retrieval of state/kahcharai lands, encroachments, and illegal construction, but even after a lapse of more than three years, nobody knows what has happened to that order of the former DC Poonch. If this is the case, the government must take strong action against the revenue officials who are involved in multiple land-related frauds in the district. Still, near the S.K. Bridge, the land grabbers are in the process of capturing the remaining leftover lands for the construction of more shops in the ‘Red Zone,’ but the revenue authorities have adopted a pin-drop silence. Threats of demolishing drives and notices are given only to the poor and weak people, but against the influential land grabbers in the same “Red Zone,” the department has no guts. The revenue department in Poonch is a hub of brazen frauds, and from top to bottom, the majority of revenue employees always look for an opportunity to earn money by any means. The government needs to conduct a high-level inquiry into the issue and, if initiated properly, can bring horrible facts into the public domain related to illegal constructions in the “Red Zone” and illegal encroachment of state/forest/Kahcharai lands and assets, and those tainted revenue officers and others who over the years played their mischievous role must be brought to justice, wherever they are.