MOHALI: As part of the drive to get government and panchayat shamlat land freed from illegal occupants, 138 acres of such land has been re-acquired by the government in the past 48 hours in Kharar and Derabassi.
Mohali deputy commissioner (DC) Amit Talwar said the exercise was conducted on the directions of the minister for rural development and panchayats Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal. A total of 67 acres, 2 kanals and 36 marlas of land was handed over to the panchayat block, Majri in Kharar.
Talwar said that the land possession was conducted under the supervision of duty magistrate, naib tehsildar, Kharar Vivek Nirmohi and duty magistrate, Majri Deepak Bhardwaj as well as other administrative and panchayat officers.
He added, "63 acre, 25 marla land in Tirthan village and 4 acre, 2 kanal, 11 marla land in Dodemajra has been freed from illegal occupants and handed over the gram panchayat." A total of 71 acres of land under illegal possession in Hansala village was retained and handed over the panchayat under the supervision of Derabassi MLA Kuljit Singh Randhawa. Talwar said that the lands freed from illegal occupants will now be auctioned by the government for lease and sale purposes as per the law.
In April, 29 acres of panchayat land worth crores at Abhipur village under Majri block, near New Chandigarh in Mohali was freed. The panchayat minister said that on the directions of chief minister Bhagwant Mann, a target had been set by officials to vacate illegal encroachments from 5,000 acres of panchayat land by May 31, 2022 under a special drive across the state in the first phase. The minister reiterated the commitment of the Punjab government to remove encroachments from all panchayat lands.
