Surat authorities raze ‘encroachment'; mosque trust claims ownership of land, alleges proper measurement not carried out
Claiming that the local Jumma Masjid trust had encroached on a piece of government land near a graveyard, the Surat district administration removed a barbed-wire fencing along with a chicken shop inside it in Sayan village on Monday.
The Jumma Masjid trust, though, claimed the land parcel was owned by it and the officials had not measured it properly before carrying out the demolition.
Sources said that acting on District Collector Dr Sourabh Pardhi's order, DLR (district land record) officials checked the records and found the parcel to be a piece of government land.
Sources said that on Sunday, Sayan village sarpanch Shailesh Patel, Talati Bharat Chaudhary and Olpad taluka panchayat's elected member from Sayan seat, Dipesh Patel, held a meeting with Jumma Masjid trust members and asked them to remove the encroachment. Claiming that they owned the land, the Masjid trust members refused to vacate it, the sources added.
On Monday, officials from Olpad Taluka Mamlatdar office and his team with police department staffers, incharge sarpanch and others reached the spot with a bulldozer and carried out the demolition of the compound wall as well as the chicken shop. To be sure, the trust does not own the chicken shop.
Following the demolition, Jumma Masjid trust members submitted an application against the exercise with the district collector's office. The trust members also went to the Sayan Gram panchayat office and claimed ownership of the land. The trust members alleged that measurement of the land was not done properly by DLR officials.
Talking to The Indian Express, Olpad taluka Mamlatdar H D Chopda said, 'The Masjid trust members had made an encroachment on the government land and after getting it measured by the DLR officials, we have removed the encroachment of a shop and barbed-wired compound. The land area from where encroachment has been removed is around 500 meters.'
Sayan Jumma Trust Masjid member Ebuh Manakh said, 'The land has been with the trust for long and we have been paying taxes to the Gram Panchayat every year. When DLR officials turned up at the spot, the authorities should have informed us so that we could also be present there. We are not satisfied with the land measurement done by the DLR and have raised objection to it through an application made to the district collector of Surat.'
Collector Pardhi could not be contacted for comment.
Sources said the government land, bearing block no. 606, near the Muslim graveyard in the village was earlier used to store agricultural produce. After the farmers stopped using it decades ago, the Jumma Masjid trust of the village made a barbed-wired compound on it. The chicken shop had been running out of the premises for several years, they added.
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