Port Blair, Apr 28: Bengaluru, April 28: The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is ensuring that the armed forces have the best war fighting machines, but they seems to be finding it tough in tackling the growing menace of land-grabbing.
According to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, MoD approximately 10126 acres of defence land is currently under encroachment. MoD owns a total of 1757055.54 acres land across India.
Citing inputs from the land management agencies under MoD, Parrikar says the encroachment is around 0.58% of the total land holding of MoD. He says there are no centralised records on land grabbing complaints maintained by his ministry.
Whenever an encroachment issue is brought to the notice of MoD, Parrikar says action against is taken under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971 and Cantonment Act 2006.
The minister said following the prevention, detection and removal of encroachment missions, defence land, recorded as illegally occupied or encroached has reduced by approximately 2512.83 acres in the last three years.
In order to ensure the proper utilisation of defence land, MoD is undertaking periodic Defence Land Audit. A committee has also been constituted to suggest ways to optimise use of defence land, Parrikar informed the Upper House.
Directorate General Defence Estates (DGDE) under MoD maintains a data bank of defence land across the country.
Here’s the State-wise list of total area of land owned by MoD (in acres). Andaman & Nicobar Islands 8166.39, Andhra Pradesh & Telangana 39735.03, Arunachal Pradesh 4787.39, Assam 25493.31, Bihar 11925.44, Chandigarh 176.25, Chhattisgarh 1582.41, Dadara & Nagar Haveli 0, Daman & Diu 196.00, Delhi 11628.55, Goa 3025.58, Gujarat 24807.00, Haryana 37211.36, Himachal Pradesh 8096.65, Jammu and Kashmir 22338.51, Jharkhand 7713.62, Karnataka 33124.71, Kerala 5279.40, Lakshadweep 39.85, Madhya Pradesh 231073.96, Maharashtra 138802.10, Manipur 1294.41, Meghalaya 4029.40, Mizoram 0.21, Nagaland 551.28, Odisha 18015.72, Pudducherry 0.38, Punjab 78329.18, Rajasthan 821186.68, Sikkim 3078.07, Tamil Nadu 21233.46, Tripura 2679.51, Uttar Pradesh 123309.97, Uttrakhand 27168.07, West Bengal 40955.70
Recent land grab incident in Bengaluru
The MoD had recently issued a statement on behalf of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in Bengaluru in connection with a land-grab incident.
MoD had said that the land mafia attempted to disturb the construction of a boundary wall. After the terror strike on Pathankot Air Force Station, security across all IAF bases has been tightened. MoD had said that around nine acres of land belonging to AFS Jalahalli had been encroached.
