800 bighas of govt land freed from encroachment in south Delhi’s Bhati village

District magistrate (south), Amjad Tak said that the removal of encroachment on government land in Bhati village was being taken up in a phased manner.

Nearly 800 bighas of government land was on Tuesday freed from encroachment in Bhati village of south Delhi during a demolition drive conducted by the district administration.

Authorities carried out a demolition drive against illegal encroachments in Bhati village of south Delhi on Tuesday, Aug 28, 2018. (PTI)

The administration had identified encroachments on about 450 acres of forest and Gram Sabha lands in Bhati village. A public notice was published in Hindi, English and Urdu languages on August 3, warning people to remove encroachments within 15 days.

District magistrate (south), Amjad Tak said that the removal of encroachment on government land in Bhati village was being taken up in a phased manner.

“In first phase, 166 acre (800 bighas) was freed today (Tuesday).This includes forest and Gram Sabha lands. In the second phase, 100 acres and in the third phase 235 acres of lands would be freed,” Tak said.

He added that encroachments on the government land have been identified in other villages too such as Sahoorpur, Chhatarpur, Maidangarhi, Rajpur Khurd, Dera Mandi, Aya Nagar, Jonapur, Deoli, Neb Sarai and Saidulajab.

“A survey maps of these villages have also been prepared. The district administration is planning to remove the encroachments on all government lands in phased manner within next six months,” he said.

The operation began at 7am by three teams headed by SDM Saket, SDM Mehrauli, and SDM Hauz Khas. The officials from the forest department and Gram Sabha were also part of the operation. Heavy police deployment was done to avert any untoward incident. Nearly 100 civil defence volunteers and 20 JCB machines were used.

In March 2018, major encroachment removal drive was carried out in Asola village and about 194 acres (934 bighas) of government land was retrieved after demolition of farm houses, boundary walls and unauthorised structures.