Areas surrounding the capital's Hatia dam will soon be free from encroachments, claimed state drinking water and sanitation minister Chandra Prakash Choudhary.

The minister has directed his department's principal secretary A.P. Singh to initiate prompt steps to remove all illegal occupants from the catchment areas of the dam in Dhurwa and properly demarcate the government property to prevent further attempts of land grab in future.

The initiative follows a survey report submitted by the state revenue and land reforms department that revealed that as many as 38 people have been staying illegally on the catchment areas for decades.

"They are either occupying residential quarters meant for drinking water and sanitation department staff, who are responsible for maintenance of the dam, or have built concrete houses on the vacant plots. Some of them have also opened shops and departmental stores there," the minister said.

Choudhary also expressed strong reservation against the lackadaisical attitude of his department's officials, who did not take any step against the illegal occupants over the years. "They (encroachers) have been staying there since the days of unified Bihar but no one ever made an honest effort to make the area encroachment free," he told The Telegraph.

Department officials said following the minister's directive, they would soon forward the matter to the Ranchi district administration to start an anti-encroachment drive near Hatia dam.

"The district administration will follow the standard procedure. It will first send notices to illegal occupants, asking them to leave the place within a given deadline. And if need be, it will take police help to remove the squatters by force," said senior department official.

According to Choudhary, similar anti-encroachment drives will be launched at Kanke dam and Getalsud dam soon.

"Following a recent state cabinet directive, the revenue and land reforms department is surveying catchment areas of different water bodies across the state to identify encroachments on government property. We will first make the places near Hatia dam encroachment free and subsequently take up other affected areas. After removing squatters, the government land will be demarcated by concrete pillars," he said.

The minister will soon review the situation in Palamau division, which is apparently facing drought-like crisis.