VC JDA Caught in Deep Slumber as His Own Deptt. Helps Landgrabbers to Usurp Its Prized Land

JDA Land Grab Raises Questions on JDA’s Alleged Complicity in Aiding Land Grabbers, Casting Shadow Over the Department in Jammu

• JDA land at Paloura, Jammu, allegedly encroached upon, sparking accusations of collusion between land grabbers and officials of JDA while the JDA VC sleeps over the issue.
•  Despite its own ‘urgent request’ for joint demarcation, JDA Tehsildar delays the process, allowing the encroachment to progress unchecked until the land grabber had already constructed on the disputed land.
•  The Revenue Department had already demarcated the land as belonging to JDA, but intriguingly the JDA delayed to sign the final joint demarcation report till date, raising concerns about accountability and oversight within the JDA.
•  Repeated reports by Jammu Jottings shed light on the systemic failures and apparent collusion, prompting public outcry and demands for accountability.
•  The public demands a thorough inquiry into the scandal, questioning who truly governs Jammu and who will be held responsible for the alleged abuse of power, as corruption and collusion threaten governance and justice in the region.

Mohit Mehra

Jammu, April 11: In a shocking revelation, the battle over land ownership in Jammu has taken a dark turn, leaving the public questioning the integrity of Jammu Development Authority (JDA), the key government department, where its own employees are found to be involved in land grabbing scandal. The recent saga involving the Jammu Development Authority (JDA) and the Revenue Department has highlighted a disturbing trend of collusion and negligence, ultimately benefiting land grabbers at the expense of the state.
The silence of JDA VC is also intriguing as even after the repeated reports in media about the land grabbing cases of JDA land neither any action has been taken against anybody nor was the encroachment stopped at Paloura.
The controversy began when the JDA received a complaint alleging encroachment on its land at Paloura under Khasra No. 1080 and 1080/1. In response, the JDA Tehsildar urgently requested joint demarcation of the disputed land with the Revenue Department, emphasizing the gravity of the situation.
However, despite the urgency conveyed in the official letter to Tehsildar Jammu (North) vide No. JDA/The-A/1781-86 dated 23/04/2024, the joint demarcation was delayed until 27/03/2024. Shockingly, it was discovered that approximately 2.5 Kanals of land indeed belonged to the JDA. The encroacher, in this case a JDA employee, who had already begun construction on the land by levelling it using a JCB machine, was merely warned without facing any tangible consequences.
The failure to halt the encroachment persisted, even after the Revenue Department was to submit the final joint demarcation report by 12/04/2024 but JDA mysteriously delayed the signing of the joint report perhaps to allow the land grabber continue to brazenly erect boundary walls, put iron gates, and construct a room inside the land in question.
When contacted, a JDA official told Jammu Jottings that the Revenue Department has not submitted its final joint demarcation report yet and until they do so, JDA cannot proceed further on the matter.
However, another official from Revenue Department revealed that how can Revenue Department submit the joint report unless JDA officials also sign it adding why was JDA in slumber when the joint inspection of the land on 27/03/2024 had clearly revealed that the land belonged to JDA.
He added couldn’t JDA prevent the construction on its land? Why were thy waiting for the final joint report when they knew encroachment on their land was going on.
Meanwhile the sources also disclosed that some of the land at Paloura belonging to JDA has been sold out by the land grabbers raising questions on the integrity of JDA and collusion between its officials and land grabbers.
Meanwhile the Vice Chairman of JDA also seems in deep slumber as all this scandal is going on under his nose and widely reported by the media but still no action is being taken, thus raising several pertinent questions.
The Tehsildar JDA is also under scanner as his own letter marks the matter as Most Urgent but later sleeps over the issue till the land is completely grabbed.
When Jammu Jottings tried to contact VC JDA and Tehsildar JDA for comments, they did not pick the call.
Now the question emerges: who is responsible for this brazen act? JDA or Revenue Department? Serious questions emerge regarding the complicity of the very department entrusted with safeguarding public assets.
Repeated reports by Jammu Jottings shed light on the systemic failures and apparent collusion between officials and land grabbers. Despite the glaring evidence and public outcry, no decisive action has been taken against the perpetrators.
Even more alarming is the reported involvement of a JDA employee in the illicit land acquisition scandal, raising concerns about internal accountability and oversight of JDA.
With Jammu Jottings’ persistent coverage on January 31, 2024, February 1, 2024, March 24, 2024, and March 27, 2024, the glaring question remains: who truly governs Jammu, and who will be held accountable for this brazen abuse of power?
The public has developed a feeling that some of the officials at JDA seem to be hand-in-glove with the encroachers, thus handing over the prized State Land to land grabbers without putting up a basic fight, let alone showing the might of the administration.
The public demands answers and accountability, urging the administration to launch a thorough inquiry into the scandal and hold responsible parties to justice. Until then, the spectre of corruption and collusion looms large, threatening the very foundations of governance and justice in the region.