category Regional, chandigarh, , tags Regional, chandigarh, , DW BUREAU Chandigarh Punjab Rural Development and Panchayat Minister S. Laljit Singh Bhullar, on Wednesday, reclaimed 203 acres of illegally encroached panchayat land in Bhambotar village of Talwara block of district Hoshiarpur. While addressing reporters at the village community center, the Panchayat Minister said that total 252 acres of panchayat land across four villages in Bhambotar had been encroached upon, of which 203 acres were voluntarily vacated by the village panchayats and farmers. He mentioning that some people had constructed houses on the remaining land. Assuring a forthcoming policy to resolve such encroachments, he vowed to prevent any inconvenience to the people. He said that the reclaimed land was utilized for planting khair and teak trees, which are now ready for harvesting. These trees will be harvested after taking approval from the department and the amount received from harvesting will be deposited in the state exchequer. Answering the query, Cabinet Minister stated that around 13000 acres of Panchayat lands have been reclaimed from illegal encroachment across the state. He emphasized that the department is expediting efforts to resolve court cases, aiming to vacate remaining encroached panchayat land soon. He affirmed that Chief Minister S Bhagwant Singh Mann led government is fully committed to reclaiming panchayat land from unlawful occupation, asserting that no individual, regardless of their influence, will evade consequences for illegally encroaching upon government land. The Cabinet Minister said that the departmental cell tasked with removing illegal encroachments from government land, has been strengthened so that there is no difficulty in getting rid of encroachments from panchayat land. Laljit Singh Bhullar was accompanied by MLA Dasuya S Karambir Singh Ghuman, Joint Director RD P Department S. Jagwinderjit Singh Sandhu, Divisional Deputy Director Jalandhar S Amardeep Singh Gujral, ADC (D) S Balraj Singh, DDPO S. Bhupinder Singh Multani and BDPO Talwara S. Sukhpreet Pal Singh. Land encroachment poses significant challenges to urban planning, environmental conservation, and property rights. It can lead to disputes among neighboring landowners, disrupt community planning efforts, and have adverse effects on the environment. Governments and local authorities typically implement measures to prevent and address land encroachment, including land surveys, legal actions. (editor dailyworld.in)