Garhwal Post Bureau
RUDRAPUR (Udham Singh Nagar), 20 Jun: Udham Singh Nagar district administration on Saturday demolished an illegal Mazar constructed on Irrigation department land at Nanak Sagar, adjoining the revered Sikh pilgrimage site Nanakmatta Sahib. The structure, built on Government land near the dam, was razed in a joint operation conducted by the police, the Irrigation and the Revenue officials under the ongoing anti-encroachment drive of the Pushkar Singh Dhami government. It may also be pertinent to share here that no human remains were found in the mazar.
Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Pankaj Upadhyay shared with the media that District Magistrate Nitin Bhadauria had issued directions for the removal of the said encroachment. A notice had been served a month earlier, asking the concerned parties to produce valid ownership documents, which they failed to provide. Consequently, the joint team carried out the demolition, treating the Mazar as an unauthorised structure on government land. The officials confirmed that no human remains or relics were found beneath the demolished site. Upadhyay added that notices had already been issued to several other suspicious structures and that the campaign will continue as per Government orders.
It may also be recalled that the Chief Minister has reiterated several times that encroachments on Government land will not be tolerated under any circumstances. He emphasised that the state’s cultural and spiritual identity must remain intact and informed that nearly 12,000 acres of Government land have already been freed from illegal occupation. He assured that the campaign to safeguard Uttarakhand’s Devbhoomi character will continue with full force.
According to official figures, the Dhami government has so far removed 593 illegal Mazars and 42 other unauthorised religious structures from Government land across the State. The anti-encroachment campaign, which began in May 2023 with the Forest department, has since expanded to other departments, ensuring that encroachments on public land are systematically eliminated.
