Anti-encroachment drive: Uttarakhand govt modifications tack after discovering temples on forest land

Express News Service

DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand authorities has been compelled to give up the anti-encroachment drive after a survey revealed that temples had been moreover constructed on forest land.

A preliminary survey carried out by the forest division revealed that historic temples identical to the well-known Mansa Devi temple in Haridwar and Garjia Devi in Ramnagar had been moreover constructed on the encroached land belonging to the forest division.

“The government has been forced to stall its anti-encroachment drive as several famous temples built before 1980 stand on forest land. It was in 1983 that the Rajaji National Park came into existence. The forest law was made stringent after that,” official sources said.

The authorities had deliberate to remove all encroachments on forest land. But subsequent surveys revealed that other than ‘Mazars’ (Muslim shrines), many historic temples moreover stand on the forest land. 

About 37000 sq. kilometers of forest house is found to have been encroached.

Now, the forest division has decided in direction of demolishing spiritual places constructed sooner than 1980 in reserved forest areas. This was agreed upon in a gathering chaired by Dr Parag Madhukar Dhakate, who was made the nodal officer on the orders of Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Vinod Singhal, on the forest headquarters on Friday.

Dhakate, who’s the Chief Conservator of Forests has sought a report of such web sites inside three days of issuing varieties to all DFOs to remove spiritual places constructed by encroaching on forest division land. For this, inside the type given to the authorities, opinions have been sought regarding the temple, mosque, Mazar, graveyard, gurudwara, and church.

The officers had been moreover directed to ship footage and GPS areas of the encroachment to know when the encroachment took place. Directions had been moreover given to take punitive movement beneath the Indian Forest Act in direction of encroachers in such circumstances. According to the nodal officer, “Action is being taken to remove encroachments from forest land on the instructions of the Chief Minister. Information about the religious places shifted has been sought from various departments”.

Rajaji Tiger Reserve Director Saket Badola, who attended the meeting almost, instructed this reporter, “The work of marking the encroachment is being completed very scientifically and technically, so the movement shall be taken after the information are revealed with full transparency.

DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand authorities has been compelled to give up the anti-encroachment drive after a survey revealed that temples had been moreover constructed on forest land.

A preliminary survey carried out by the forest division revealed that historic temples identical to the well-known Mansa Devi temple in Haridwar and Garjia Devi in Ramnagar had been moreover constructed on the encroached land belonging to the forest division.

“The government has been forced to stall its anti-encroachment drive as several famous temples built before 1980 stand on forest land. It was in 1983 that the Rajaji National Park came into existence. The forest law was made stringent after that,” official sources said.googletag.cmd.push(carry out() googletag.present(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); );

The authorities had deliberate to remove all encroachments on forest land. But subsequent surveys revealed that other than ‘Mazars’ (Muslim shrines), many historic temples moreover stand on the forest land. 

About 37000 sq. kilometers of forest house is found to have been encroached.

Now, the forest division has decided in direction of demolishing spiritual places constructed sooner than 1980 in reserved forest areas. This was agreed upon in a gathering chaired by Dr Parag Madhukar Dhakate, who was made the nodal officer on the orders of Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Vinod Singhal, on the forest headquarters on Friday.

Dhakate, who’s the Chief Conservator of Forests has sought a report of such web sites inside three days of issuing varieties to all DFOs to remove spiritual places constructed by encroaching on forest division land. For this, inside the type given to the authorities, opinions have been sought regarding the temple, mosque, Mazar, graveyard, gurudwara, and church.

The officers had been moreover directed to ship footage and GPS areas of the encroachment to know when the encroachment took place. Directions had been moreover given to take punitive movement beneath the Indian Forest Act in direction of encroachers in such circumstances. According to the nodal officer, “Action is being taken to remove encroachments from forest land on the instructions of the Chief Minister. Information about the religious places shifted has been sought from various departments”.

Rajaji Tiger Reserve Director Saket Badola, who attended the meeting almost, instructed this reporter, “The work of marking the encroachment is being completed very scientifically and technically, so the movement shall be taken after the information are revealed with full transparency.