It is a much-needed step that the District Administration Jammu has carried out a decisive demolition operation at Sidhra, targeting illegal constructions raised on State land.
Reportedly, a team led by the concerned Tehsildar accompanied by Naib Tehsildar Sidhra/Bajalta, besides Revenue officials and Police personnel, conducted the operation, removing unauthorized shops and structures built on encroached State land. With this action, the administration has successfully retrieved approximately 3.5 kanal of prime land. The retrieved land was immediately taken into official possession and earmarked for the establishment of the Niabat and Patwari office and Police Chowki, Sidhra.
The District Administration has reiterated its resolve to continue strict action against violators and encroachers. Such actions deserve appreciation but looking into the gravity of the issue—as the government itself admitted in the Assembly in October that over 2.99 lakh kanals of State/Kahcharie land and 19,501 hectares of forest land remain under illegal occupation across the Union Territory despite several eviction drives—the challenge clearly remains vast and alarming.
The figures divulged by the government tell a sordid tale of neglect and systemic failures, demanding a proactive and uncompromising approach in vacating encroached land from the land mafia and other encroachers. It is pertinent to mention that in this case, the idiom ‘slow and steady wins the race’ won’t work, as retrieving lakhs of kanals of encroached land is a herculean task that requires a swift, coordinated and comprehensive strategy.
Reportedly, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is also Minister In-charge Revenue, informed in response to a question raised by BJP MLA Ranbir Singh Pathania that land measuring 17,27,249 kanals and 15 marlas stood encroached in the UT of J&K. Out of this, 14,27,841 kanals and 7.5 marlas were retrieved while 2,99,407 kanals continue to remain under illegal occupation. When asked whether politicians (sitting/former Ministers/MLAs and MPs), retired and serving bureaucrats, their dependents and close relatives have been identified as illegal occupants of State, Custodian, Forest, JDA and Kahcharie land, the Government avoided direct identification of the encroachers and maintained that revenue records do not contain entries based on profession of the land owner.
Even the Jammu Development Authority (JDA) does not keep records of encroachers by profession. With such a vast chunk of land under illegal occupation and no clear mechanism to fix responsibility on influential encroachers, the need of the hour is to carry out anti-encroachment drives on a large scale—firm, fearless and free of political pressures—to rid J&K of this archaic problem that has plagued the region for decades.
The administration must ensure that the recent Sidhra action becomes a turning point, not a token gesture. What is at stake is not just land but the integrity of governance itself.
