The district administration has identified buildings and structures encroaching on the Falgu river bed and has started to remove them.
The administration has issued notices to the squatters to remove the structures on their own. If the squatters do not remove them and if it is removed by the administration, the owners of such buildings will have to pay the cost involved in removing the encroachment.
District magistrate (DM) Sanjay Kumar Agarwal said: "Around 981 structures, including permanent and temporary ones, have been identified in Gaya sadar and Manpur circles. Of the identified structures, more than 150 have been removed till Wednesday. The drive was launched on Monday. The encroachments have been identified on both sides of Falgu river - towards the eastern and the western ends."
People dump garbage and subsequently encroach the area with temporary or permanent constructions. "To counter this trend, we have removed three huge piles of garbage. We have banned dumping of garbage along the Falgu river bed. A garbage dumping ground has been identified at Naili near Gaya-Bodhgaya bypass road where all garbage has to be dumped," he said.
For those who are living in temporary structures and are being removed in the anti-encroachment drive, there's a rehabilitation plan too. "According to provisions of the government, we will make available three decimal land in rural areas to such people for their rehabilitation," the DM said.
The DM has asked additional district magistrate (ADM) Rajesh Kumar, deputy collector land reforms (DCLR) Krityanand Ranjan and sadar sub-divisional officer (SDO) Maqsood Alam to monitor the anti-encroachment drive on a day-to-day basis.
Court directive
A division bench of Patna High Court comprising Chief Justice L. Narasimha Reddy and Justice Vikash Jain, on a PIL filed by one Mani Lal Barik, on Wednesday, directed the state government to constitute a committee to oversee the facilities being provided to pilgrims and maintenance of Vishnupad Temple.
The direction was given, while abolishing the service tax levied upon pilgrims for offering pinddaan in the Falgu river. The committee would function under the guidance of Bihar State Religious Trust Board, the court said.
