Srinagar- The Union Territory administration has started geo-tagging and geo-referencing of around 4 lakh kanal state and Kahcharai land retrieved in the massive anti-encroachment drives across Jammu and Kashmir during the last two months.
The exercise is being conducted at a time when the administration has slowed down the eviction drive reportedly on the instructions of Home Minister, Amit Shah.
An official of the revenue department told Kashmir Observer that geo-tagging and geo-referencing will help the authorities to keep a close watch on the retrieved lands and to ensure no more encroachments take place.
The geo-tagging is a process of adding geographical identification marks like latitude and longitude. It helps users find a wide variety of location-specific information from a device.
“The idea is to look after the lands continuously and stop it from being occupied again,” the official said.
He further said that the administration is searching for “big chunks of land” and the land belonging to poor people have been ordered to be skipped.
“We have clear cut instructions not to spare the influential persons and not to touch the poor,” said the official, wishing not to be named.
Earlier, Kashmir Observer had reported that the UT administration has retrieved around 3.90 lakh kanal of state and Kahcharai land from the “illegal occupants” across J&K.
Notably, the Jammu and Kashmir government had directed removal of all encroachment on land owned by UT, including Roshni land and Kahcharai land by January 31. However the drive continued as the authorities failed to meet the deadline.
The government action has met massive protest from the people and the regional political parties. While the authorities say that the drive targets influential people only, the people say that not only the rich but many common people, small-time shopkeepers and business fraternity are also being targeted.
On Friday, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar Bidhuri said the government has made it clear that the poor and landless will not be touched in the anti-encroachment drive.
“There is no need to panic as the land being retrieved belongs to the local people and will be used for them only, for which the work is going on,” he told reporters in Srinagar.
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