Suhail Bhat
Pulwama, Dec 9: Land grabbers have encroached upon around 1500 kanals of land belonging to Lassipora Industrial Estate, one of the most thriving zones in Southern Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
In the year 1992, State Government had dedicated a sprawling 6000 kanals of land at Lassipora to State Industrial Development Corporation (SIDCO) to promote sustainable economic growth and generate employment. The SIDCO leased the space to various manufacturing units but land grabbers have encroached major portion of this land, causing worry among the industrialists.
An official at SIDCO said out of 6200 kanals of land, the centre possessed only 4600 kanals of land. “Nearly 1500 kanals of land has been illegally possessed by different people. Some 6200 kanals of land were dedicated to this centre to promote the small scale enterprise but a large portion of this land has been lost to land grabbers,” he said.
The members of Industrial Unit Holders Association at Industrial Growth Centre (IGC) Lassipora said the land grabbers have been illegally occupying the land for years and the authorities were acting as mute spectators. “The land grabbers used to start with possessing small portion of land but now a large portion has been grabbed,” a unit holder said, adding they were initially told that the land under possession was uncompensated and the owners have occupied it some years back.
Complaining about a nearby Gujjar Basti, the unit holder said that the neighborhood which squats illegally, has grown exponentially since the last half a decade or so. Sources at the SIDCO lamented that they have repeatedly brought the issue to the notice of the district administration.
“There has been no response from the administration. They have not even tried to talk to the squatters, leave alone making any effort to vacate them,” the sources said.
In the year 1984, the land was acquired from around six different nearby villages. The acquired land consisted proprietary as well as grazing land. As per the sources, some of the proprietary land was not compensated by the Government and remained uncompensated even today.
“Some of that uncompensated land is yet to be retrieved despite being notified in the centre’s name. Besides, the land has been compensated and is still illegally held by squatters,” an official at SIDCO said, adding the land grabbing has never stopped.
Deputy Commissioner Pulwama, Ghulam Mohammad Dar, when contacted, said he has constituted a team to look into this matter. “I have constituted a team which will look into the matter and if land was found illegally possessed by anyone, action will be taken,” he said.
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