294 illegal shrines, 31 temples demolished in Uttarakhand… 72 hectares of forest land freed from ‘Land Jihad’
On the instructions of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, the Forest Department has so far demolished 325 illegal religious places and made about 72 hectares of forest land encroachment free. In these illegal places of worship, 294 shrines and 31 temples have been demolished while notices have been sent to two gurudwaras. On the instructions of CM Dhami, where the screws are being tightened on those who encroach in the forests, now preparations are being made to take action against those who are negligent in removing the encroachments. The Dhami government is fully engaged to stop the land jihad going on in the forest land. The Forest Department is taking action to free its lands from illegal encroachment, in which the work of removing illegal tombs built in deserted places in the middle of forests is going on fast. Along with the tombs, the illegally built temples have also been removed.
The campaign started from 20 April
The Forest Department started its campaign from 20 April. Most illegal religious places were identified in these encroachments, which are being demolished. Three illegal religious places have been demolished in a single village of Pachhwa Doon, while all the shrines built on forest land have been demolished and the land encroached free. Along with this, a warning has also been given not to encroach again, otherwise strict action will be taken.
Hinduist organizations welcomed
Hinduist organizations have welcomed the speed with which the removal of illegal tombs marked by the Forest Department is being done these days. Nodal Officer CCS Dr. Parag Madhukar Dhakate says that strict action is being taken against those who are negligent in removing encroachments. Teams are being formed in every district to monitor them, which will secretly inspect encroachment on forest land. These teams will give their report that how effective action has been taken on the encroachment from Ranger and DFO level. If action is not taken, the responsible officer will also be mentioned in the report by the team. Which will be sent to the forest headquarters. From where action can be taken against the concerned ranger. If the negligence of the DFO also comes to the fore in this report, then the government will be written to take action against them as well.
Dhami government’s campaign to stop land jihad
The Dhami government is fully determined to stop the land jihad going on in Uttarakhand on a large scale. CM Pushkar Singh Dhami often reiterates his resolution that the land of the state will be freed from land jihad. CM Dhami also says that any kind of encroachment on forest land or other government land will not be tolerated. CM Dhami is reviewing this encroachment free campaign daily from the Forest Department and District Administration. He is also taking information from Nodal Officer Dr. Madhukar Dhakate daily. Due to the strictness of the CM, the Forest Department is taking continuous action, due to which the Forest Department has so far freed its 72 hectares of forest from encroachment.
Land grab game?
It is surprising that a large number of concrete tombs were made in the forests under the Land Jihad and the land around the tomb has also been made concrete. So that proof can be shown to prove their occupation right there. Even the game of capturing the land by drying up the trees around the tombs is also going on. In this way, an attempt has been made by the encroachers to damage the forest wealth to a large extent, but due to the negligence of the Forest Department, no action was taken. No one came to know about the construction of these shrines and the encroachers continued to occupy the land comfortably.
Where was the forest department?
In the year 2022, when the land jihad was revealed on the forest land, the government was also taken aback that if such a large number of shrines were built in the forests, then where was the forest department. After the strictness of the CM, when the bulldozers were fired on the land jihad, it became clear that this mausoleum was built only to grab the land because no human remains were found anywhere under these mausoleums. However, the courage of some encroachers is so high that after removing the mazars, they make a mazar again at the same place.
Such cases have come up in Dehradun. Even when a tomb built on the side of Rajpur Road was removed by the administration despite the order of the High Court, the same shopkeeper rebuilt that tomb. Due to the awareness of Bajrang Dal, the administration, taking action again, removed the tomb from there and also gave a strict warning not to encroach again.
Encroachment of forest land
The same tomb in the forests of Ladpur in Ring Road of Dehradun was removed by some Hinduist organizations last year, but the encroachers rebuilt the tomb there because there was no one to go there to see it. On the information of the local people, when the Forest Department team reached there, the tomb was again seen there. Under the guise of this shrine, about one bigha of forest land was encroached upon and a 1 kilometer long road was also made to reach it. The team under the leadership of Raipur Ranger Rakesh Negi demolished this mazar. During this time no one associated with the tomb came there. However, it is said that a couple takes care of this mazar. A warning notice has also been pasted there to prevent those people from trying to build a shrine here again.
