CURATED BY – MOHMMAD MUNEER | CITYCHIEFNEWS

Shahdol, even though BJP government is running a campaign in the entire state for conservation and revival of water sources, but in Shahdol, so-called Congress leaders are working to take the wind out of this campaign. The surprising thing in this case is that the revenue and police staff posted at the same place for years provide strength to the so-called leaders of opposition parties for this illegal business. In such a way that files of many complaints are gathering dust in the concerned offices. The recent complaint in the case has been made by the state vice president of Vishwa Hindu Mahasangh Bharat, Mrs. Geeta Singh. According to the written complaint letter of the complainant, land mafia Abhishek Mishra, son of Narayan Mishra, resident of Purani Basti, has occupied many Nazul and government lands including tribal lands. The proof of this is that government land of Khasra number 516 under the municipality was freed from encroachment by the order issued by the Tehsildar and Section Office after my complaint was found to be correct. Similarly, land mafia has occupied the heart of the city. Women social worker and complainant have searched the revenue records of Shahdol since independence. According to those records, it is beyond comprehension that by the year 2014, the land of Talab Bhitha recorded in Khasra number 97, was duped of the responsible officials and the lease was grabbed by registering the division and transfer of the said disputed land, whereas in this case, the history of Khasra number 97 is revealed by observing the documents obtained through RTI, that the land which is recorded as Government Talab Bhitha in the revenue records from 1950-51 to 1990, 91, 92, 93, 94, then how did more than one acre of land in the middle of the city come to be occupied? On the basis of the proceedings in the revenue case, it is known that before the intention of occupying this pond, the name of water chestnut farming was taken, sometimes a dairy with cows was shown, sometimes a wooden stall was built, all this happened not in some remote village but in the middle of the city, such a scam happened that if it is said that stealing the kajal from the eyes, it would not be an exaggeration.

Current situation of Shahdol

Shahdol is the only district of MP where the history of 365 ponds in the city is recorded in the pages of historical mythological stories, but barely 44 ponds are there in the present municipality. Shahdol city, which is known for its ponds, now has only a few ponds left. Shahdol city has a history of 365 ponds. Now only 44 government ponds are recorded in the records of the municipality. Whereas there are 10 private ponds. Apart from this, 561 ponds are recorded in Sohagpur tehsil. This includes all government and non-government ponds. In many ponds, big colonizers have occupied the land by pushing the poor forward.

Catchment area of ​​ponds ends
The condition of the ponds of the city which have been renovated by the Municipality has gone from bad to worse. Due to concrete work and ending of catchment area, water is not filling in them. Due to which efforts are being made to fill the ponds through other means. The same is the condition of Gharaula pond and Mohan Ram pond. Some houses are already built on the embankment of most of the ponds of the city and some new construction work is also going on. Under the guise of construction work, the work of filling the pond is also being done. Due to which this pond is shrinking day by day.

What does history say...
It is worth noting that according to historical mythological stories, the real name of Shahdol is Sahatradol where during the exile in the city of King Virat, Bhima made a pond-like pit every day with his mace in one year. Today, 65 ponds are not left in Shahdol, a city with 365 ponds. According to a survey, the 365 ponds in Shahdol, which were built on scientific basis, had such communication among themselves that one pond was above it, then the second below it, then the third and fourth respectively, there was a chain of ponds. Today, all those catchment areas connected to each other are also in the grip of encroachment. Although, if the illegal encroachment on the ponds is not removed, then the people of Shahdol will have to struggle with the supply of drinking water. In future, there will be a crisis of drinking water in the city.

Only the officers did this

Meetings were held several times to preserve the ponds of the city, but the action plan made in the meetings and the instructions given by the officers do not seem to be implemented. In the meeting, the collector had talked about cleaning the ponds as well as their preservation. After this, the situation remains the same. The officers kept giving instructions to the field officers but there was no result. In fact, recently the then collector Lalit Dahiya held a meeting on the encroachment of ponds and asked for a report within three days, but the field staff kept the file of the pond issue pending.

Court orders to remove illegal encroachment...

Recently, a historic verdict was given on a PIL filed in Uttar Pradesh regarding encroachment on ponds, after which the state governments have started focusing on the conservation and restoration of ponds. Allahabad High Court directed the state government to remove encroachment from the ponds recorded in the revenue records of 1951-52 in the state and to restore them by terminating the leases given on the ponds' land. Along with this, the court had directed the Chief Secretary of the state to form a monitoring committee in this regard in consultation with the Chairman of the Revenue Council. The court had said that every District Magistrate, Additional District Magistrate, Finance and Revenue Officers of the state should be ordered to prepare a list of ponds and prepare a blueprint of encroachment on the ponds. Remove encroachment from the ponds and submit the restoration report. In simple words, the court ordered all the District Magistrates to remove encroachment from the ponds and restore them. The purpose of the petition filed by the NGO was also to remove illegal encroachment after the renovation of the pond. The court said that if the state officials are being negligent in following the orders of the Supreme Court and High Court, then action should be taken against them as per the relevant rules. The court said that if leases have been given on any pond, then the District Magistrate should take legal action and restore it by removing illegal encroachment.