Chandigarh has grabbed 2298 acres of Punjab’s land, The Punjab govt should get it back

Chandigarh, Nov 26
The UT Chandigarh has illegally and forcibly grabbed 2298 acres of land in Punjab. Despite Punjab owning this piece of land, it has no control. To set matters straight, the Punjab government should immediately stake the claim and regain its prime area.

Chairman of Nayagaon Ghar Bachao Manch and Senior Punjab Bharatiya Janta Party leader Vineet Joshi said this while addressing media persons and pressing for immediacy the Punjab government should adopt to retrieve its 2298 acres of land from the UT.

Joshi came across the surprising fact when he took up cudgels of fighting against the Punjab government over its notification declaring Sukhna eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) up to 3 kms instead of 100 m.

Divulging further details Joshi said that Chandigarh has illegally declared 2298 acres of land in Kansal village of SAS Nagar (Mohali) as a forest area. Undeterred by one wrongdoing, UT Chandigarh went a step ahead and did a second wrong act by declaring the same illegally as Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary.

Expressing surprise over the incompetent officers of the forest department Punjab, Joshi said that instead of taking the bull by horns, bringing the disparity of Chandigarh to the forefront, and laying claim on Punjab’s land, its officers have initiated the process to declare Sukhna ESZ.  With this declaration, the Punjab government will validate the illegal move of Chandigarh as legal.

With the UT Chandigarh having illegally grabbed this land, village Kansal has turned into an island that is surrounded by Chandigarh on all the sides but belongs to Punjab.

On one hand, the Punjab Government was opposing Chandigarh for giving 10 acres of land for the new building of Haryana Vidhan Sabha, and on the other hand by declaring Sukhna ESZ it was abandoning its rights over the aforesaid 2298 acres land. The decision has rendered poor and middle-class people of Nayagaon, Kansal, Karoran and Nada in limbo as their lifetime investments, and their houses will be razed.

He added that by grabbing Punjab’s land, Chandigarh has violated Punjab Reorganization Act 1966, Indian Forest Act 1927, Wildlife Act 1972, Delimitation Act 1962 and Land Acquisition Act 1894.

Laying the law threadbare for common man to understand, Joshi explained that as per Wildlife Act 1972, wildlife sanctuary can be declared only under Indian Forest Act 1927.
As per Indian Forest Act 1927, forest can be declared only on that land that’s owned by the government which notifies. So the UT could not declare 2298 acre of Punjab’s land as a forest area. The most important fact is that as per the Land Acquisition Act 1894 the land acquired for a particular purpose has to be used for that purpose only. The aforesaid land was acquired for soil conservation and declaring forest on it is illegal.