Jalpaiguri Municipality seeks detailed report of govt land

Jalpaiguri: A report has been requested from the land and land reforms department from the Jalpaiguri Municipality to determine the current amount of land in the municipal area and how much of it is government land.

Additionally, the municipality has initiated a separate inspection on this land issue.

Municipality chairperson Papia Pal said: “The report from the land and land reforms department and the inspection conducted by the municipality will reveal how much government land there is. Several tasks will proceed accordingly. If any land is found to be encroached upon, raids and evictions will be carried out. Illegal constructions will also be demolished. Furthermore, legal action will be taken against those responsible.

The workers have been informed that the work will be done as per the instructions given in the government administration portal.”

Meanwhile, Congress councilor Amlan Munshi stated that most of the complaints raised by the Chief Minister in last Monday’s meeting are applicable to the Jalpaiguri municipality.

The issue of construction by occupying government land has been discussed many times. This time, the campaign is set to start following the Chief Minister’s push.

Jalpaiguri Municipality has a total area of 12.97 square kilometers in the 25 wards. There are more than 33,000 holding numbers and a population exceeding 1.5 lakh. For several years, there have been allegations of illegal construction, particularly along drainage canals in the municipal area. Some municipality staff also believe that there are more cases of forcible occupation in the 25 wards.

They think that if the work is started under the strict instructions of the Chief Minister, more incidents will surface.