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Bokaro Steel issued notices to 49 illegal occupants of the PSU’s official quarters on Wednesday, informing them that a six-day eviction drive will be launched from Thursday.
A decision to this effect was taken after a meeting of company officials and the Bokaro district administration that has agreed to post a magistrate along with policemen during the drive that would begin in phases from 9am.
The notices, issued to the 49 illegal occupants who had made illegal constructions in their dwelling units without the PSU’s permission, come a day after Jharkhand High Court lauded the efforts of the steel PSU to reclaim property that had been taken over by squatters due to years of neglect.
So far, 1,874 among a total of 2,119 illegal occupants have been evicted from Bokaro Steel quarters. Action was pending on only 134 illegal occupants who include the 49 against whom notices were issued.
Bokaro deputy commissioner Sunil Kumar said the administration would definitely follow high court orders. “The administration is ready and will co-operate with Bokaro Steel while removing encroachments,” he said.
Chief of communications of Bokaro steel plant Sanjay Tewary said after Thursday’s drive against 49 illegal occupants, the remaining encroachers would be targeted.
Orders to remove encroachments were issued by Bokaro steel plant estate court which had earlier served notices to the encroachers asking them to make representations to the court. But after they failed to appear in court without bothering to submit valid reasons, the court ordered for their removal.
Besides encroachment of Bokaro Steel quarters, illegal encroachers were still occupying more than 700 acre of the steel plant’s land on which they had constructed shanties, huts, cowsheds, shops and dairy outlets.
The PSU’s estate court has also published a court notice asking the 10,000 encroachers to vacate the land but so far no one has complied. To add fuel to the fire, major political parties including the BJP, Congress, JMM, JVM, Ajsu, as well as Left parties, came out in open support of the illegal dwellers.
They claimed all those being sought to be evicted now had been living on Bokaro Steel land for decades and unless they were rehabilitated, none of them should be asked to go.
According to the estate court notice, there were 4,000 encroachers at Dundibagh, 2,500 at Ukrid More, 750 near Bokaro rail over bridge and 500 each at Sector IX, near Cooling Pond II, at Mahuar Basti and dozens of others at Sector XI and City Centre Sector I.
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