Waris Fayaz
Baramulla, May 06 : Authorities on Saturday carried out a drive to free the land from “encroachers” over a canal at the Bunpura Renji area of Pattan in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, with locals alleging that the drive was carried over a personal grudge and rivalry to provide road connectivity to a single family. However, the concerned tehsildar denied the allegations and said they have come to free the whole of the 1.5 km stretch from encroachers.
Talking to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the locals who were at the site, alleged that the drive was being carried over a personal rivalry between two siblings, and not to remove the “encroachment” over a canal.
“The motive of this drive is only to provide road connectivity to a single person,” alleged Nisar Ahmad Dar, whose land was retrieved from the “illegal encroachment”.
“I don’t oppose the move. However, the trees were cut down without issuing any prior notice. This is injustice as the drive was only carried over a personal grudge and rivalry between two siblings over the road connectivity,” he alleged.
Similarly, a lady who protested the move accused Naib Tehsildar Khoie of favouritism. She also alleged him of demanding a bribe of around 20 thousand rupees for not touching their land. However, the officer refuted the allegations, terming them “baseless”.
Meanwhile, the tehsildar told KNO that the drive was carried out following complaints from the locals that a canal has been encroached upon. He denied the allegations of the drive being carried on a personal request. “The 1.5 km stretch canal has been encroached and drive is being carried to free it from encroachers,” he said.
About the notice issue, the tehsildar said, “The notices have been served to them, in general, a few months ago. However, they didn’t remove the encroachment which prompted the authorities to act.”—(KNO)
