Ghaziabad: Land worth ₹100 crore freed up in Dasna

Officials of the Dasna Nagar Palika said that encroachers who belong to nomadic tribes had illegally occupied the land which was meant for burials

Nearly three decades after it was encroached upon, officials of the Dasna Nagar Palika, with the help from the local police, on Monday freed up nine acres of land worth about ₹100 crore. The officials said that encroachers who belong to nomadic tribes had illegally occupied the land meant for burial.

Members of the nomadic tribes said that the team of officials drove them out of the land and pulled down their shanties. (Sakib Ali/HT)

The officials said they had to face stiff resistance from the encroachers.

“They (encroachers) set afire several shanties and then threw some LPG cylinders in the fire. However, our staff pulled out the LPG cylinders from the fire. It has been about five times during the past decade that our teams tried to drive them away but each time they put up stiff resistance,” said Manoj Kumar, executive officer of Dasna Nagar Palika.

Kumar said that when the municipality staff were sent to announce the demolition drive on October 7, the encroachers threatened them of dire consequences. He also said that during previous drives, the encroachers untied their monkeys and horses and the municipality teams had to make hasty retreat.

“We got two FIRs lodged against them in 2017 and 2018. Due to the encroachment, it was not possible to bury a body on the land. So, we decided to take help from police and got the encroachment removed,” Kumar added.

The officials said that they will now level up the land and erect a proper boundary wall. They added that the cost of land, valued at around ₹100 crore, could be much higher as the rates have shot up after the construction of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway.

“The land in question was freed up by teams of administrative officials, along with police personnel. We have not received a complaint against the encroachers from the officials as yet,” said Iraj Raja, superintendent of police (rural).

Shahid Ahmad, head of the nomadic group, denied allegations that members of his group attacked the teams which arrived for freeing up the land. “We have been staying on this land for about 40 years now. The team of officials drove us out of the land and pulled down our shanties. We have never been violent with anyone. Our houses have been razed and we have nowhere to go now,” he said.