Ex-soldier fights losing battle against river

Ram Niwas fought in the Sino-India war, besides serving under the first President and first Indian Governor General. But the 78-year-old ex-...

Ram Niwas fought in the Sino-India war, besides serving under the first President and first Indian Governor General. But the 78-year-old ex-soldier now finds himself helpless in the face of a fickle river and government officials.

Nearly 35 years ago, the government had rewarded him with a piece of land in the khadar (riverine tract) of village Sirjeypur near Hastinapur in Meerut. But till today, Ram Niwas does not know the plot’s location, though he has paid tax for it, nor can officials shed any light on it.

His dream of spending his retired years farming has been drowned, as the land lies submerged somewhere under the Ganga. The river had flooded several acres when it changed course and Ram Niwas was not the only one who paid for its fickleness. Several farmers in UP and Haryana have lost their land to the river and conflicts due to changing boundaries are common.

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The disputes can be traced back to ‘‘meem seem’’, a peculiar British rule of deciding boundaries of agricultural land criss-crossed by rivers. The literal translation of the phrase means the fish flowing in river decides the boundary. In other words, the flow of water decides the boundary when the river changes its course. Villagers blame the government for not fixing pillars as permanent markers in disputed territories that often lead to violent clashes.

Ram Niwas, who was with the prestigious 4th Brigade of Guards raised by General Cariappa, says he has been asking for an alternative piece of land but to no avail. The ‘‘missing’’ plot had been allotted to him by the Ganga Khaadar Upnivesh in 1968, four years after his retirement.

‘‘A kisan bahi was also issued. But I never got to see the land. Pahley Ganga paschim mein bah rahi thi, baad mein poorab mein aa gayi (the river has changed its course from west to east),’’ says Ram Niwas.

Ram Niwas paid revenue for the land he never got to till. The tax was later waived. He complains that he is tired of visiting the Tehsil and Soldiers’ Board offices. ‘‘Daanti bhi gayi aur lai bhi nahin di (I lost the sickle and did not get the wheat as well),’’ he says.

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When contacted, the District Soldiers’ Board Secretary said he had forwarded Ram Niwas’s application to the State Revenue Department. ‘‘The matter is pending for long,’’ admits Assistant Secretary Satpal Tyagi.

Sub-divisional Magistrate (Mawana) Avinash Singh says he has received the complaint recently.

‘‘The problem arose due to change in the river’s course. Bijnor mein Ganga par barrage banney ke baad kafi area mein Ganga ke bahav sey kataan ho gaya hai (the course of Ganga changed after a barrage came up at Bijnor),’’ he says. This has led to disputes among farmers in districts like Meerut, Bijnor and Jyotibaphuley Nagar, he adds.

Singh says he has approached the Geological Survey of India for a solution. ‘‘They will probably help locate Ram Niwas’ land,’’ he adds.