Drive against encroachments put on hold in Haripur

HARIPUR: The anti-encroachment drive was put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, official sources said. Last year the municipal administration collected the data of encroached land from the revenue staff and launched the operation. According to sources, the administration reclaimed several kanals of land from the illegal occupants and demolished cemented structures. The sources said the administration served notices on the encroachers in January, but the drive was later put on hold. “The administration has succumbed to the pressure of influential occupants,” alleged a former village council nazim Aslam Khan while talking to newsmen. He said the width of Ganja Kamala Road was 22 feet in the revenue record, but has been reduced to 13 feet. He said the notices were served on the encroachers in January and the machinery was moved but the administration stopped the demolition squad from taking action at the eleventh hour. Neither the tehsil municipal officer nor the assistant commissioner Haripur was available for comments. However, an official source claimed the coronavirus lockdown led to the postponement of the anti-encroachment drive.