The subject of tombs and other religious structures being built there by encroachment in the forests of Devbhoomi Uttarakhand is once again in the center of discussion. Now the government has also accepted that more than one thousand tombs and other structures have been built by occupying the forest land.
The survey is still going on and their number may increase. Although six months’ time has been given to remove them, but the question has also started to arise whether there is any relation of demographic change with these structures. Not one but many such questions are floating in the air.
After all this, if the opposition has not made the subject of tombs a political issue, then the nature of Devbhoomi itself lies behind it. Not only this, due to the fact of encroachment, no protest has been raised even from the Muslim community.
The matter came to the fore 11 months ago:
In April last year, reports of sudden flooding of shrines and other religious structures in the state’s forests had raised eyebrows. It was revealed that the number of these formations has increased rapidly in the forests of Terai and Bhabar region in the last 15-20 years.
After this, the government conducted a survey to the Forest Department in June and asked for a report regarding the religious places located in the forests of the state. Then the preliminary report had come to the fore about 400 religious structures in the forest areas. The report mentions about 40 tombs in existence in Corbett and Rajaji Tiger Reserves. Although, the process of in-depth survey is going on now.
The growth of tombs is surprising:
The existence of temples, caves and tombs of saints in the forest areas of the state is there since ancient times, but the sudden increase of tombs in the forests is surprising. This confirms the apprehension, which has been said that forest land is being encroached upon in the name of religious structures, so that it can be made a source of income.
Tombs removed from many areas:
The campaign to remove the tombs built illegally in the forests is also going on for the last about six months. Earlier, 17 mausoleums in Dehradun forest division, nine in Kalsi forest division and one in Garhwal forest division were demolished. Encroachment in forest land was confirmed in all these cases.
In the preliminary survey, it has been revealed that there are encroachments at about one thousand places in the forests and action is going on in this. If there is any kind of encroachment in the forests in the name of Mazar or any other religious place, then it has been asked to remove it yourself. If it is not removed within six months, the administration will remove it. Now there will be no new encroachment and it will be removed in a lawful manner. Work will be done on the principle of justice with all.
Pushkar Singh Dhami, Chief Minister:
The government is paying special attention to ensure that there is no encroachment in the forest areas. Some encroachments have been removed and this order will continue. Wherever there is a complaint of encroachment in the forest under the guise of a religious place or any other, serious action will be taken on it.
Subodh Uniyal, Forest Minister:
The work of marking the religious structures located in the forests is still going on. Encroachment of any kind will be removed. Along with this, the focus will be on marking, vigilance and accountability, so that the situation of encroachment does not come anywhere.
