The deputy commissioner of Rajouri, Shahid Iqbal, has ordered eviction of more than 700 encroachments on valuable land acquired by…
(PHOTO: AFP)
The deputy commissioner of Rajouri, Shahid Iqbal, has ordered eviction of more than 700 encroachments on valuable land acquired by the ministry of defence in the district that shares the Line of Control (LOC) with the Pakistan occupied Kashmir (POK). He has also ordered an enquiry by the police into failure of the concerned officers to check the encroachments.
Iqbal directed the commander 31 Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) and the Superintending Engineer PWD to exercise their powers under the Prevention of Ribbon Development Act and remove the encroachments. More than 700 encroachments have been reported on the roads of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) involving land worth crores of rupees acquired by Ministry of Defence.
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The directions were issued in view of communications received by the Revenue department for removal of encroachments. The DC has accordingly clarified that powers for removal of such encroachments are vested with commander 31 BRTF under SRO 44 of Public Works Department and same had not been exercised which lead to hundreds of encroachments including prime land in various towns of the district. The tehsildars have been asked to initiate action on such encroachments and identify delinquent officials.
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Meanwhile, the District Road Safety Committee has directed for safety audit of various vital roads of BRO, PWD and PMGSY in the district. In view of dilapidated condition roads, poor maintenance and large scale encroachments reducing the driving space, obstruction in drainage and other issues the safety audit has been ordered to be conducted which will form basis for directions to executing agencies and fixing responsibility.
The Superintending Engineer, PWD and XEN PMGSY have been asked to furnish traffic safety status of all the roads constructed and manned by PWD. The District Road Safety Committee headed by District Magistrate will review the safety audit in 2nd week of July.
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