FGD lends support to Nagar Nigam's Anti encroachment drive

Dehradun: A delegation of ‘Citizens For Green Doon’ today met the Mayor, Vinod Chamoli, and expressed its support of the anti-encroachment drive undertaken recently by the Nagar Nigam. It may be recalled that a few days ago the DMC had removed encroachments from Brahmanwala area on Shasthradara Road and the Mayor had come under tremendous political pressure to call off the drive.
Dr Nitin Pandey of the CFGD said that if Dehradun was to become a modern city the Nagar Nigam must be strengthened and the property of Nigam was public land and belonged to the people of the State and no one should be allowed to encroach on it. He further said that the administration now ought to deal with encroachments in the city with the same vigour and there should be no discrimination between the encroachments by the rich and poor.
Chamoli welcomed the declaration of support and said that the educated people of the city had to come forward and support his mission to make Doon a clean, green and modern city. He assured the delegation that encroachments would soon be removed from the city as well. It was sad, he further said, that while he could understand the encroachments by the poor people, the encroachment by of rich traders defied any logic. He said that he would improve the condition of Dehradun, even if his actions cause him political loss. Mr. Chamoli said that multiplicity of implementing agencies, lack of proper coordination, corruption, unsympathetic officialdom and dilly dallying by the State Government in declaring a permanent capital of Uttarakhand played an important part in creating the mess in Dehradun.
The delegation requested the Mayor to give them a list of unused and idle land of Nagam and permission for planting trees and making gardens in such areas and in the khalas, which would not only prevent encroachment but also beautify the area and improve the environment of the city.
Florence Pandhi, of Friends of Doon, said that the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Dr. RBS Rawat, was making a plan for Greening Dehradun and the Nigam ought to give all possible support to it. Dr Kuldeep Dutta stressed that as per repeated Supreme Court rulings, the Nigam ought to give 15 days notice to all encroachers and then evict the encroachment forcefully.
Also present were Ruchi Singh Rao, Himanshu Arora, Sunil Datta & Anish Lal.