DC firm on clearing encroachment

 In a news conference on Thursday, he said his office had served notices on the houses that are found to have encroached upon government land. The administration had to act against such cases and clear the encroachment. The occupants of the houses must cooperate vacating their houses before the demolition. “We have found that most of these houses are rented. We will book a case against the owners if they do not oblige,” Gupta stated.

He said the administration in coordination with the State-level Task Force has would carry out a survey in a phased manner to identify the encroachment of Government land. The administration was committed to provide an alternative for the poor and homeless families. There are various schemes like Ashraya  where the affected will be rehabilitated,” the DC said.

On footpaths being turned into places of worship, he said the Home Ministry has succinctly directed to clear such encroachments if it caused inconvenience for traffic or the pedestrians. However, there is room for regularisation in rarest of rare cases. “Such cases need to be handled meticulously as it involved religious sentiments. We will hold consultations with the concerned people. The Ministry directive also allows for regularisation in cases where it hurts the religious sentiments and can potentially create a law and order problem,” Gupta remarked.

Phone-in programme

On Thursday, the DC launched a phone-in programme and heard public grievances and complaints from across the district. Most of the complaints were about the encroachment of government land. Though, foundation was laid for the first grade college in T Narasipur long back, the work was yet to begin. A person also petitioned about the encroachment on Poornaiah canal near Hinkal and Vijayanagar.