UP govt intensifies crackdown on encroachments in urban bodies

Lucknow: The Yogi government in Uttar Pradesh has intensified its crackdown on illegal constructions and encroachments on government lands, including parks, ponds, and puddles in urban bodies.

All urban bodies have been instructed to identify and take action against illegal constructions and encroachments as per the rules. The government has also directed that information regarding encroachments be provided on the Anti Land Mafia Portal (IGRS Portal).

The state government has already taken strict measures against illegal construction, freeing land worth thousands of crores from the clutches of the land mafia. The new campaign aims to free government land from illegal construction in urban bodies. Every urban body is expected to mark public lands, parks, ponds, and puddles being encroached on by the land mafia or anyone else. Necessary legal action should be taken against the illegal occupants, and they should also be registered on IGRS portal with the help of revenue department.

The State Level Anti Land Mafia Task Force, chaired by Chief Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra, has been running an anti-land mafia campaign since 2017 to remove encroachments from public land and take effective action against illegal encroachers.

A four-level task force has also been constituted to review the campaign at the state, divisional, district, and tehsil levels. The recent review meeting of the state-level anti land mafia task force found that information about illegal encroachments and illegal occupants on public land in urban bodies is negligible on the anti-land mafia portal.

Therefore, every urban body is responsible for providing information related to its body to the director, directorate of local bodies, who will make this information available to the government.