The Times of India 06.09.2012
‘Clear illegal Amanishah constructions in 3 weeks
JAIPUR: Decades-old encroachments in the Amanishah Nullah,
a dry river bed running through Jaipur, will have to go before this
month ends. In a stern order passed on Wednesday, the Rajasthan high
court has directed the state government to remove the illegal
constructions and submit a compliance report to it within next three
weeks. The court's interim order is set to affect at least 3,000
constructions, as the Jaipur Development Authority
(JDA) has admitted to that many intrusions into the nullah's catchment
area. The JDA said in court that it has already removed 11 encroachments
and issued notices to 40 persons in a stretch of 9.5km of the dry river
basin.
EVICTION DRIVE
HC forms panel to aid civic body
Jaipur: The Amanisha Nullah's zigzag course through the city is about 49km long. It houses the city's maximum number of illegal residential colonies that, being in low-lying areas, were the worst affected by torrential rain over the past fortnight. Residents of these areas had to be shifted to temporary relief camps. JDA seems to mean business this time as it has sought the court's permission to convert the electricity connections of the illegal building into temporary ones so that commercial tariffs could be charged from their owners. The division bench of Chief Justice Arun Kumar Mishra and Justice N K Jain promptly granted the permission.
To aid and advice the JDA in the task, the court has constituted a nodal committee under the state chief secretary. The committee would include district collector, police commissioner , JMC CEO, Jaipur Discom's CMD, Rajasthan housing board commissioner.
The menace of encroachments in the dry river basin was brought before the high court through a PIL by a resident , P N Mandola. The petitioner's counsel Poonam Chand Bhandari said the nullah's entire course was dotted with encroachers, many of whom were even influential officials , politicians and property dealers. As the division bench wanted to know an estimated number of encroachers, JDA counsel R N Mathur put the figure at around 3,000. He also informed court that in the catchment area there were occupants whom the JDA consi- dered encroachers , but they possessed government documents establishing their land-title rights (Khatedari rights). The land revenue settlement department was being consulted to find out how these people got the rights in water body's basin. "During the 1981 floods in Jaipur, the river changed its course slightly and began to flow through the farmlands," Mathur said. The court, however, directed the JDA to act against even those who had Khatedari rights in the nullah's catchment area.
