Land grabbers have formed nexus with functionaries of various departments and large chunks of Government land have been illegally occupied by them. The racket of grabbing land has increased manifold owing to the movement of people from rural areas to the capital city of Jammu. Old Jammu city is located on the western slopes of Trikuta Hills. Tawi flows around it. In olden days maximum population was concentrated on the slopes of this hill and did not have to face the threat of floods when Tawi was in spate. But with the passage of time, population increased and people sought lands to raise residential structures.
Jammu city has expanded north and south across the Tawi. Now posh residential colonies have come up across Tawi on which we have as many as four bridges today to facilitate communication. Since unplanned residential colonies have come up in a big way, all the effluents run into the waters of Tawi making it highly polluted not fit even for irrigation as contaminated water can damage the quality of soil and adversely impact the crops. Apart from this, unauthorized constructions have come up on the banks of the river or its tributaries that obstruct flow of water besides polluting it. A PIL has been filed before the Divisional Bench requesting the court to disallow construction of private or Government structures on the banks of the Tawi and demolition of those that have been illegally raised in the past. The court has issued orders prohibiting extraction of small minerals from the river bed of Tawi and its arteries. For smaller nullahs that flow into Tawi, the court has ordered no extraction will take place at night and the SSP of the district has been directed to maintain vigil and seize the trucks that carry the small minerals or sand. The lower courts will not order release of seized trucks without permission from the High Court, reads the order.
It is a matter of great relief for the citizens of Jammu that the court has come to their rescue. The Government has been talking tall about beautification of Tawi bank but has not stopped unauthorized construction of structures. Instead of making Tawi bank beautiful and attractive, shabby and ugly structures have come up. There is much scope for Tawi bank to provide recreational space for the citizens if the retrieved land is converted into parks and play grounds especially children’s park. It is highly satisfying that the Court has taken serious note of allowing Tawi bed to be spoilt by builders who extract small minerals and thus obstruct smooth flow of water. We find that the High Court has done justice to the PIL filed before it and upheld the plea for keeping Tawi banks clean and attractive. It is now the duty of the police and Municipal Corporation to ensure that the court orders are implemented in letter and in spirit. Inviting the attention of police, administrative end Municipal authorities to its order of July 29, 2016, directing demolishing of unauthorized structures in the river bed, the High Court has asked for status report to be placed before the court in the next hearing. At the same time the Court has given fifteen days time to the Government to prepare the record of authorized as well as unauthorized structures that have come up in Tawi bed or its banks. Those that are unauthorized have to be dismantled within one month and those which were authorized have to be given compensation for dismantling. This is perhaps the strictest order that has ever come from the High Court in stopping further depletion of the river bank and spoliation of environment of Tawi. We hail the orders of the court.
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