All in the name of God

Illegally constructed places of worship and colonies have been usurping the reserved area for years, while administration looks the other way..

P.S. Chauhan

There is encroachment galore in the name of religion. The district administration has identified 315 places of worship in the district which have been constructed on encroached land. "We have to abide by the direction of the Apex Court to remove all encroachments in the name of religion on public places," says the District Magistrate, Dr. R. Meenakshi Sundram. The encroachments are also obstructing the work of expansion and beautification of the 12 main crossings in the city, including Chandracharya Chowk, Devpura Tiraha, Tulsi Chowk and Shankaracharya Chowk, under the JNURM. The situation has further worsened due to the installation of the statues of the great personalities, specially of the religious leaders, at these busy crossings.

"The large scale encroachments in the city could not have been possible without the connivance of the administration and the politicians. The modus operandi is that first the administration turns a blind eye to encroachments and illegal constructions and later on regularizes them by compounding them by charging some penalty. The political leaders are also to be blamed. They allow encroachments and later on get the houses and shops built on encroached land regularized," rues Gandhiwadi Purshottam Sharma of Kankhal. The situation is becoming grim everyday due to soaring prices of land as a result of rapid industrialization and commercialization. Illegal colonies have been built on agricultural land and after felling trees from gardens and orchards, with the forest department remaining a mute spectator. As the number of tourists is swelling with every passing year, the residential buildings and dharamshalas are being converted into hotels and lodging houses, without permission from the Haridwar Development Authority. The Authority, which was set up in 1986 for the planned development of the city, has failed to fulfil the desired purpose. V.S. Dhanik, who has recently assumed charge as secretary of the Authority, says that he is aware of the gravity of the situation and the Authority will soon initiate remedial measures.

During the last Kumbh the mela administration launched an anti-encroachment drive, but it had to be given up, obviously under pressure of the local politicians. Recently, the district magistrate launched a determined drive against encroachments, specially those which cause water logging and traffic jams. In spite of opposition by vested interests, the administration largely cleared encroachments from Chandracharya Chowk to Dev Pura and from there to Laltarau Bridge and from Shankaracharya Chowk to Kankhal Chowk. But strangely enough, some officials, who were leading anti-encroachment drive, were transferred. The drive had to be suspended, obviously again under political pressure. "It was a bold initiative in the interest of the public in general. All the enlightened citizens whole heartedly hailed and supported the initiative," says Sadhvi Rama Chaudhary of Kharkhari. The district magistrate asserts that the drive has only been suspended and not given up. "We shall again launch the drive soon to clear the mess, says the D.M.