Recently, the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun demolished a wall erected by the SGRR Education Mission which according to the MCD was encroaching on a portion of the municipal land in the Dehrakhas area.
Though a portion of the municipal land may have been freed from encroachment in this area, a considerable proportion of the MCD’s lands in different parts of the State capital are under encroachment.
This problem might be resolved in the foreseeable future as the corporation has already hired a private company that has started a survey of the municipal lands in Dehradun.
It is worth mentioning here that while the authorities are often accused of ignoring encroachments by influential persons, some politicians also continue to abet encroachments and prevent the MCD from removing slums encroaching on its lands.
A month ago, the MCD had tried to clear about 250 unauthorised constructions encroaching on about five hectares of municipal land but political interference prevented the necessary action from being taken.
Along the prominent Rajpur Road, at least two prominent hotels, one school and one club have filled a nullah and used the land for constructing commercial buildings which has blocked the natural drainage of water during the rainy season.
This encroachment was made some years ago and in recent years there had been protests by the residents of the areas affected by water logging resulting from this encroachment. According to the Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli, no action can be taken in some cases at present as these are under litigation in the court.
“We have already hired a private company to conduct a survey of the MCD lands in town. This survey work has is currently underway,” he added.
Though a clear picture of the extent of encroachment on municipal lands is expected to become clear after this survey, observers point out that a substantial proportion of MCD land totaling to at least 250 hectares could be under encroachment at present.