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In response to the status report indicating that 4,360 acres of land in municipal areas of Haryana are illegally occupied, the Punjab and Haryana high court has directed the report to be forwarded to the Haryana chief secretary. The court has requested suitable action to be taken and appropriate measures to be initiated against the officials/employees responsible for the negligence.
Justice Vinod S Bhardwaj issued an order stating, "He will also investigate the issue to ensure that prompt measures are taken to safeguard public property from illegal occupation and to remove such encroachments." Dr. Yash Pal, director of urban local bodies in Haryana, submitted an affidavit to the high court, as per a court order from February. The affidavit detailed the extent of encroachments.
In the Sohna area of Gurgaon, unauthorized occupation covers an area of 1896.55 acres, and in Kalka, under the jurisdiction of Panchkula MC, it amounts to 486 acres. Encroachment over 145.75 acres is observed in Beri, Jhajjar, 243.48 acres in Pehowa, 622.5 acres in Shahabad, and 149.9 acres in Thanesar, all located in the Kurukshetra district.
Additionally, approximately 230 acres of land in Bawani Khera, Bhiwani, is illegally occupied, with cases pending since 2016 for its removal. Ambala City has encroachment on 24.62 acres of land, while Ambala Sadar has 90.6 acres of encroached land. Furthermore, despite more than 115 acres of land being unlawfully occupied in Ambala, no official has been transferred to the position responsible for addressing squatters.
While presenting the status report, the director also mentioned that, in accordance with the applicable law, the decision regarding eviction is required to be made by the joint commissioner in a corporation area, or by the respective sub-divisional officer under the Public Premises Act for areas under other municipalities. The court sought information on the duration for which the posts of joint commissioners have been vacant, as the reason provided for the failure to remove encroachments was the pending cases or appeals that have not been decided by the authorized body.
It was brought to the attention of the court that there is only one approved position for a joint commissioner in Ambala City, which has remained vacant since January 4, 2020, for a period of more than three years. In Panchkula, out of the two sanctioned positions, one remained unoccupied as of February 13, 2022.
The hearing regarding the encroachment on municipal land in the state has been postponed to September 28 for further proceedings.
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