Lullanagar defence land encroachment cleared after 15 years

Hundreds of unauthorised tin sheds and iron structures had come up on the crores of rupees’ worth land located barely 500 metres from the office of the principal director, defence estates.

PUNE: The defence estate office (DEO), southern command, on Tuesday cleared nearly 1.2 acres of prime defence land at Lullanagar that had allegedly been occupied for nearly 15 years by private contractors engaged by the military engineering service (MES). Hundreds of unauthorised tin sheds and iron structures had come up on the crores of rupees’ worth land located barely 500 metres from the office of the principal director, defence estates. The illegal structures were demolished using JCB machines on Tuesday, raising questions over how the encroachment was allowed to continue for so long despite repeated notices issued by the DEO to the occupants to vacate the land.

Lullanagar defence land encroachment cleared after 15 years

Defence estates officer, Pune, Vikas Kumar, said, “The authorities had repeatedly sought to clear the land but were unable to secure its possession earlier”. The contractors had been using the defence property for years despite notices issued by the DEO. Since they were associated with MES projects, they resisted vacating the premises. Finally, the DEO was forced to deploy earthmovers and labourers to remove the sheds and reclaim the A-2 category defence land on Tuesday.

Following the eviction, the DEO plans to fence in the land to prevent fresh encroachment. Kumar said that some occupants had also approached courts but the legal proceedings did not alter the fact that the land was being occupied illegally. The department will now proceed with recovery of occupation charges for unauthorised use of the property, Kumar said. Officials said that the prolonged occupation had become a serious concern, given the location of the land parcel and its proximity to sensitive defence establishments including the southern command hospital.

The Lullanagar operation is part of a broader effort to protect vacant defence land from unauthorised occupation. Several such land parcels in Pune and Khadki and elsewhere remain vulnerable not only to encroachment but also to dumping of garbage and construction debris; and commercial use according to both officials and activists. Senior officials point to land near Queen’s Garden close to the southern command headquarters and railway line which has once again been illegally occupied despite earlier eviction drives.

Cantonment-based civil rights activist Raja Bhau Chavan said, “How was this illegal occupation allowed to continue since 2011? The role of the MES is a major question because these contractors were engaged by the government agency. How could private contractors dare to occupy defence land and construct hundreds of sheds there? More importantly, why did the MES itself not issue notices to them or ensure that the land was vacated, despite being a government agency?”

“A thorough probe is needed to establish who allowed the occupation to continue for so many years and who was responsible for failing to protect the defence land. A police investigation is also necessary. An independent inquiry board comprising retired judges, defence officials and members of civil society should be appointed to examine the entire episode and fix responsibility,” Chavan said.

The DEO, Pune circle, is a key field office of the directorate general defence estates (DGDE) and is responsible for maintaining records and exercising custodial responsibilities over nearly 72,000 acres of defence land. Defence land in Pune, Khadki, Dehu road, Ahmednagar and Aurangabad cantonments; as well as in Pune, Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Ahmednagar and Aurangabad districts falls within its jurisdiction.