Over 17 lakh canals of state land encroached in Jammu and Kashmir: Official data

More than 17 lakh canals of state land have been encroached by the land mafia across Jammu and Kashmir with Jammu division accounting for over 14 lakh canals more than three times the figure recorded in Kashmir division while Rajouri district topped the list among all 20 districts official data saidAccording to the official figures a total of around 1727247 canals of encroached state land entries were expunged from revenue records across Jammu and KashmirOf the total Jammu division accounted for 1400051 canals and five marlas of encroached state land whose entries were expunged from revenue records while Kashmir division recorded 327199 canals it saidThe data revealed stark regional differences with seven districts of Jammu division recording more than one lakh canals of encroached state land each while two districts Rajouri and Reasi crossed the two lakh canal markIn contrast none of the 10 districts of the Kashmir division recorded encroachments exceeding one lakh canals Only Baramulla and Kupwara crossed the 50000 canal mark in the Valley it saidThe figures further showed that the twin capital districts of Jammu and Srinagar recorded wide disparities in encroached state landJammu district accounted for 145487 canals and six marlas of encroached land while Srinagar recorded 1386295 canals indicating that Jammu district alone had over ten times more encroached state land than SrinagarRajouri district has emerged as the worstaffected district in Jammu and Kashmir in terms of encroachment on state land with 273 lakh canals found under illegal occupation by land grabbers according to official dataRajouri topped the list with 273848 canals and 12 marlas of encroached state land followed by Reasi with 226857 canals and six marlas and Ramban with 173832 canals Jammu district recorded 145487 canals and six marlas of encroached land while Kathua accounted for 130403 canals and 15 marlasUdhampur and Poonch also crossed the one lakh canal mark with 119822 canals and eight marlas and 111133 canals and 16 marlas respectively the data saidDoda recorded 91957 canals and five marlas of encroached land followed by Samba district which accounted for 74196 canals and three marlas of encroached land while Kishtwar recorded 52513 canals and 75 marlas respectivelyIn the Kashmir division Baramulla recorded the highest expunged encroached land at 8132765 canals followed by Samba in Jammu division with 74196 canals and three marlas Kupwara with 526981 canals and Kishtwar with 52513 canals and 75 marlas the data revealedPulwama recorded 427308 canals of encroached land followed by Anantnag with 36984 canals Budgam with 2177555 canals and Bandipora with 2092565 canals it saidThe data further showed that Shopian recorded 1903485 canals Ganderbal 190052 canals Kulgam 1885375 canals and Srinagar 1386295 canals of expunged encroachment entriesThe figures were disclosed in response to a query seeking details of state and central governments and JDA lands presently under encroachment and steps being taken to retrieve and regularise such landThe authorities have expunged illegal records of land grabbers of state government land under encroachment in Rajouri Reasi Ramban Jammu Kathua Udhampur Poonch Doda Baramulla Samba Kupwara Kishtwar Pulwama Anantnag Budgam Bandipora Shopian Ganderbal Kulgam and Srinagar districtsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever