Forest land was given to squatters, reveals survey

Mahendranagar, December 22:

A massive fraud has been suspected while allocating land to squatters in Kanchanpur some six years ago after it was revealed that the commission formed by the government to solve squatters’ problem had registered over 100 hectares of forest land in Pilrifanta, adjoining Jhalari VDC, in the names of individuals.

This was revealed when land survey officials conducted a fresh survey of land in the district. According to records of the Department of Land Survey, sheet number 020-1514 was a forest land 11 years ago as a single plot. The same plot spread over 103 hectares of land was divided into 131 plots and re-registered in the names of individuals by the commission.

The new survey was conducted by district survey office chief Narayan Chand, team head Umapati Goudel, survey inspector Yagya Raj Thapa and amin Yamraj Basnet. After the records showed that the plots were originally forest land, Thapa and Basnet refused to sign on the documents mentioning the ‘original’ forest land as private land.

Bishram Singh Dhami, a squatter who owns one of the plots, which was originally a forest land, said he has documents proving his ownership of the plot. “How can they call it a forest land now when we have documents to prove our possession of the land?” Dhami asked.

The current chief of the commission, Anta Ram Bhatta, accused the land survey officials of cooking up records to prove the squatters as owners of forest land even though the commission, under the authority assigned to it to solve the squatters’ problem, had allocated the plots to the squatters.

However, district forest officer Devesh Mani Tripathi said a massive fraud had been perpetrated and the records had been manipulated to allow the squatters to grab forest land.

He added that although the land had been transferred in the name of the Kalika Forest Users’ Community, the squatters have been refusing to vacate it. Some 28 squatters were recently arrested for felling trees in the forestland, he said, adding that the main culprits are still at large.

A squatter said on condition of anonymity that Dilip Dhami, Shankar Dhami, Shobharam Chaudhari and Ram Bahadur Chaudhari had taken hefty sums of money from land mafia to fell the trees.

District land revenue chief Bisan Singh Thapa said that the forest office was keeping an eagle eye on the said area and that tree felling there has been under control.