The Madhya Pradesh High Court took up the matter of encroachments on a public pond and crematorium on government land near village Sahajpur, Bhedaghat.
On Tuesday, the division bench of Chief Justice (Acting) Sanjay Yadav and Justice Vijay Kumar Shukla instructed the Jabalpur Collector to remove the illegal encroachment and submit a report within a week.
The court said the Action Taken Report already submitted by the Collector was insufficient. The court was hearing the PIL filed in April 2018 by Rajendra Singh, a resident of Sahajpur, Gram Panchayat of Shahpura Bhituni Tehsil. Advocate Anoop Nair appeared for the petitioner.
The Counsel argued that there is a public pond and drainage on government land in Sahajpur. There is a cremation ground next to it but Bhavna Patel, resident of Jharia Mohalla of Shahpura, illegally captured them and started construction. The villagers complained to the sarpanch and other officials but no action was taken. The existence of the pond is in danger due to this encroachment. At the same time, residents are also having trouble in daily activities, claimed the petitioner.
Earlier, the Court had sought a reply from the government on the petition. After reviewing the government’s reply, the Court, on December 7, 2019, asked the collector to take action to remove the illegal occupation. The tehsildar’s report on behalf of the Collector was submitted in the previous hearing, it said encroachments were found on the land.
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Therefore, the Court had asked the collector to take action to remove the encroachment in the context of the earlier instructions and submit a fresh report. On Tuesday, the Collector sought an extension for this.