CHANDIGARH: Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led Punjab Government has vacated the second largest chunk of encroached government land from illegal possession. Punjab Rural Development & Panchayats Minister S. Laljit Singh Bhullar today successfully reclaimed illegal encroached 850 acres of panchayat land in village Dadyal of block Dasuya in district Hoshiarpur.
Interacting with the media persons after taking the possession back of government land, S. Laljit Singh Bhullar informed that the market value of this land is over Rs.170 Crore. He informed that out of the total 1013 acres of panchayat land in this village, 115 acres were previously vacated from encroachers through voluntary relinquishment, while the two cases of 49 acres of panchayat land are pending in courts. He further mentioned that the department will expedite the process to settle the pending cases and ensure speedy release of remaining encroached land.
The Rural Development and Panchayats Minister stated that Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Mann had already announced that the state government is committed to freeing the land from illegal encroachments. He categorically mentioned that no person involved in encroaching government land, regardless of their influence, will be spared.
It is worth mentioning here that Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Mann had personally supervised a government drive to take possession of illegally encroached prime land of 2828 acres, the largest ever land chunk, in Block Majri of district SAS Nagar.
The Cabinet Minister informed, total of 11442 acres of land has been vacated by the department till date. Of which, 9030 acres of land worth around Rs.2709 Crore was freed by the government last year while this year approximately 2412 acres of government land has been vacated from illegal possession so far under the second phase. He urged the people of the state to come forward and voluntarily vacate encroached government land so that the revenue collected from this land can be utilized for the betterment of the state.
RD&P Minister S. Laljit Singh Bhullar said that the Shamlat cell of the department working to free the illegal encroachment from government land, will be strengthened so that the possession of panchayat land could be easily taken.