What should the authorities do when they find out about an illegal activity? In the normal course, they ought to stop that and bring the guilty to book. In Noida, however, officials think before taking any action, even if they are mandated and duty-bound to take that action.
Noida officials recently came to know that a newly constructed building was coming in the way of the alignment of the 5.5-km Bhangel elevated road. The road, it may be mentioned here, has already missed several deadlines. And now this building has become a new headache.
“The Noida authority have two options—one, is to demolish this illegal structure coming in way of the road alignment, and two, is to make changes in the design of the elevated road. A final call is to be taken on this issue,” a Noida authority official was quoted as saying in a newspaper report on February 3.
Two options? Really? Does a cop have two or more options vis-à-vis a rapist or murderer? Can he choose not to arrest the culprit and present the criminal in a court of law? Does the magistrate have the option to let the criminal walk free if his guilt is proven beyond reasonable doubt? So, why do the Noida officials have the option of letting the encroacher (by their own account) go unscathed?
The rule of law stipulates that not only the building be demolished but also the encroacher penalised—and, if need be, thrown behind bars. Not just that: the local police personnel and administrative officers should be questioned for allowing the encroachment to take place in the first place; and, if any collusion is found, they too should be sacked and imprisoned.
For too long the country has silently suffered the acts of omission and commission by local authorities. It is sad that their ineptitude and venality remain unabated, despite the presence of a zillion media platforms and social media users.
Come to think of it: some land shark is able to construct a building in a town touching the national capital—and the local officials are thinking of the course they should take! The outrage didn’t happen in some remote part of the country, but in a town where, by the way, most media houses are located.
Unfortunately, this is not a one-off case; this is the norm. Illegal structures spring up in no time at any place: squatters make temporary hutments which grow into shantytowns and ‘unauthorised colonies’; public places are used to erect religious buildings; even government land is encroached upon and turned into residential localities; colonies are made out of agriculture land without land use change and mandatory provisions like water supply and drainage. As a consequence, large parts of land have become slums, degrading the environment and making the country ugly.
It is not that the powers that be are unaware of encroachment in various forms. In its recent report, the parliamentary committee on estimates for the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways “observed that encroachments and re-encroachments are common along most highways of the country. In most cases, the encroachments are done by roadside vendors selling eateries, vegetables, pan-masala, etc. There are also instances of people encroaching upon even the road dividers and growing vegetables on them. All such encroachments, apart from compromising the safety of both motorists and encroachers, also give a very shabby look to highways at a time when the government is working with a vision to make highways at par with roads of advanced countries.”
In its presentation to the parliamentary panel, the Ministry had submitted, “The matter of encroachment is pursued regularly with the state government authorities and special drives with assistance from the local/state government authorities are also conducted from time to time on the national highways. However, the cases of re-encroachment cannot be ruled out and need to be surveyed perpetually.”
It seems that it is not just statistics that can be compared with a bikini, revealing what is tempting and concealing what is vital; official statements are no different. Neither the parliamentary committee nor the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has pointed out that most encroachments are the result of connivance or collusion with the local officials and cops, all of whom enjoy the blessings of politicians.
The reason is simple: nobody wants a brush with the law, for everybody is afraid of what is colloquially called in Hindi ‘Court-kachehry ke chakkar.’ Those who dare to grab land do that almost invariably with the blessings of politicians.
Therefore, it is time that the Central and state governments got serious about the issue. This can happen only if the entire political class arrives at some consensus over protecting land from the multifarious depredation ns of encroachment. For incessant violations of the law of the land will despoil and damage land forever.
The author is a freelance journalist. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
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