SRINAGAR: The Forest Department on Saturday retrieved 150 kanals of forest land in Jammu by demolishing 21 residential structures, most of them occupied by Rohingya refugees, in the Raika forest area, officials said.
The anti-encroachment drive was carried out in Compartment 66/B of Jammu Forest Division by joint teams of the Forest Department, Forest Protection Force, Revenue Department and Jammu and Kashmir Police under the supervision of DFO Jammu Anurag Arya.
Officials said 17 katcha and four pucca structures were demolished during the operation. They said similar drives would continue against other identified encroachments in and around the Raika forest area.
The action marked the second major eviction drive involving Rohingya settlements in Jammu within a month. Last month, a Rohingya settlement at Karyani Talab was cleared after authorities served eviction notices to owners of plots who had rented out their land to the immigrants.
The Forest Department said the Raika operation was part of its wider campaign to reclaim forest land. With Saturday’s action, 4,225 kanals of forest land have been retrieved in the Jammu Forest Division this year, while more than 68,000 kanals have been reclaimed across Jammu province since May, officials said.
Chief Conservator of Forests, Jammu, Dr V S Senthil Kumar said the reclaimed land would be fenced immediately and plantation undertaken to prevent fresh encroachments.
However, the demolition left several families without shelter. Stephen, a native of Jammu whose hut was also demolished, alleged that he had not been served any prior notice and that the demolition team arrived early in the morning, giving occupants little time to remove their belongings.
He said he had been living in the area for the past 10 to 12 years and was now left with nowhere to go with his children.
A forest official, however, said the occupants had been warned twice within a fortnight before the eviction. He said residents were given an opportunity to remove their belongings before the structures were demolished and that women and children were moved out with the assistance of women police personnel.
“There are video recordings of the operation. Only structures identified as illegal were demolished,” the official said.
The official said the encroached area covered about five hectares and that the department had prepared detailed records of the encroachments.
“The action was not directed against any particular community or group, but was solely aimed at removing encroachment from forest land. The forest rules are the same for everyone. There is no question of targeting any particular group,” he said.
He said action would also be taken against other identified encroachments and advised those requiring accommodation to seek rented premises or acquire land through legal means.
Rohingya families affected by the drive said they had been living in the area for nearly two decades after fleeing difficult circumstances in Myanmar.
“We escaped oppression in our country and took shelter here out of compulsion. We are not here to stay permanently. We hold identity cards issued by the United Nations,” Abdul Khaliq said.
“We have nowhere to go and are uncertain about the future of our children,” he said, appealing to the authorities to consider the plight of the affected families.
The latest eviction comes amid increased official scrutiny of illegal immigration and demographic changes in Jammu and Kashmir. A Central committee constituted on May 26 under the chairmanship of retired Justice Prakash Prabhakar Navalkar visited Jammu from August 10 to 12 to gather information on demographic changes, including illegal immigration. The committee also visited the Rohingya settlement at Karyani Talab.
Government data presented to the committee in August showed that 7,656 Rohingyas had been identified across Jammu and Kashmir, including 6,737 in the 10 districts of the Jammu region and 919 in the 10 districts of the Kashmir Valley.
