UP ‘bulldozer’ policy: Will raze all illegal encroachment in cities, towns

They have been also asked to ensure that information regarding encroachments is uploaded on the Anti Land Mafia Portal (IGRS portal).

“The state government has already taken strict steps regarding illegal construction in the state. Land worth thousands of crore has been freed from the clutches of the land mafia. In this sequence, it has now been decided to free the government land from illegal construction by running this campaign in the urban bodies,” a government spokesperson said.

The order issued by the state government stated that every urban body is expected to identify such public lands, parks, ponds, and puddles in its jurisdiction that are currently encroached upon by the land mafia or others.

“All such government property should be freed from encroachment and necessary legal action should be taken against the illegal occupants. It should also be ensured that they are registered on the IGRS Portal (Anti Land Mafia Portal) with the help of the Revenue Department,” the spokesperson added.
The order added: “…that it will be the responsibility of every urban body to provide information related to its body to the Director, Directorate of Local Bodies, who will make this information available to the government”.

“It is worth mentioning that in order to remove encroachment from public land and to take effective action against illegal encroachers, the state Revenue Department has been running an anti-land mafia campaign since 2017. A four-level task force has also been constituted to review the anti-land mafia campaign at the state, divisional, district and tehsil levels,” said a statement issued by the government on Sunday.

While Chief Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra is the chairman of the State-Level Anti Land Mafia Task Force, the principal secretary (Urban Development Department) along with other departments are members of this State-Level Anti Land Mafia Task Force.

From time to time, review meetings of the State-Level Anti-Land Mafia Task Force are held by the chief secretary and principal secretary of the Revenue Department.

In a recent review meeting of the State-Level Anti Land Mafia Task Force, it was found that the information about illegal encroachments and illegal occupants on public land in urban bodies is negligible on the Anti Land Mafia portal, an official said.