The Uttar Pradesh government under the leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is set to take strong action against illegal constructions in the state, including the use of bulldozers to remove encroachments on all government lands such as parks, ponds, and puddles in urban areas.
In an effort to crack down on illegal constructions and encroachments, all urban bodies in the state have been directed to identify such structures and take necessary action in accordance with the laws. Furthermore, these bodies have been instructed to report any encroachments on public land through the Anti Land Mafia Portal (IGRS Portal).
It is notable that the State Government has already taken strict steps regarding illegal construction in the state. Land worth thousands of crores has been freed from the clutches of the land mafia. In this sequence, it has now been decided to free the government land from illegal construction by running this campaign in the urban body.
The order issued by the State Government said, “Every urban body is expected to mark such public lands, parks, ponds, puddles etc. in its body which are being encroached by the land mafia or anyone else. All such government property should be freed from encroachments and necessary legal action should be taken against the illegal occupants. It should also be ensured that they are registered on the IGRS Portal (Anti Land Mafia Portal) with the help of the Revenue Department.”
The order adds, “It will be the responsibility of every urban body to provide information related to its body to the Director, Directorate of Local Bodies, who will make this information available to the government.”
It is worth mentioning here that in order to remove encroachment from public land and to take effective action against illegal encroachers, the Revenue Department had been running an anti-land mafia campaign since 2017.
A four-level task force has also been constituted to review the anti-land mafia campaign at the state, divisional, district and tehsil levels.Chief Secretary Daya Shankar Mishra is the Chairman of the State Level Anti Land Mafia Task Force, while Principal Secretary Urban Development Department along with other departments are members of this State Level Anti Land Mafia Task Force.From time to time, review meetings of the State Level Anti Land Mafia Task Force are held by the Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary of the Revenue Department.