Lok Sabha Question No. 1693 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-16
Subject: Encroachment on Army Land
Ministry: DEFENCE
Asked by: S. Gnanathiraviam

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF DEFENCE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1693

TO BE ANSWERED ON 16 th  December, 2022

## ENCROACHMENT ON ARMY LAND

## 1693.SHRI GNANATHIRAVIAM S.:

Will the Minister of DEFENCEbe pleased to state:

- (a)  whether the Government has record of landheld by the Army;
- (b)  if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  the action taken by the Government toremove encroachment from Army land;
- (d)  the action taken by the Government to stopland scam in land held by the Army; and
- (e)  the details of punitive action taken by theGovernment against serving and retired Army officials found involved in land scams?

## A  N  S  W  E  R

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

(SHRI AJAY BHATT)

- (a) & (b):  Yes, Sir. State-wise details ofdefence land under the management of Army are given in Annexure.
- (c):  Following steps are taken to remove/preventunauthorised constructions/ encroachments on defence land:
- (i) Encroachments  are  removed  as  per  provisions  of  Public  Premises  (Eviction  of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971.
- (ii) Local Military Authorities (LMAs) have been instructed to carry out periodic physical checks of all A-1 defence land under their control to prevent encroachment.
- (iii)        Annual  certificate  under  Cantonment  Land  Administration  Rules,  2021  and Acquisition, Custody and Relinquishment (ACR) Rules, 1944 regarding encroachment on  defence  land  is  submitted  by  Local  Military  Authorities  (LMAs)  on  an  annual basis.
- (d)  &  (e):    No  specific  case  of  violation  has  been  indicated  in  the  question.  However,  as  and when any violation of established rules and procedures comes to the notice of the Government, necessary action as per law is initiated.

Following preventive measures and specific actions including interventions by use of high end technologies have been taken to ensure safety and security of defence land:

- (i) Survey of all identified defence lands pockets has been completed and the boundary of  defence  land  demarcated  clearly.  Latest  survey  technology  using  drone  and satellite  imagery  have been adopted to complete survey of defence land in shortest possible time. Such survey helps in detection of encroachments.
- (ii) Instructions  have  been  issued  from  time  to  time  for  prevention  and  removal  of encroachments on defence land.
- (iii) Land Audit is carried out by the Defence Estates Organization periodically. Reports of land audit are circulated to concerned Stakeholders for necessary follow up action.
- (iv) Land Management System (LMS) software has been developed to bring in greater speed,  transparency  and  efficiency  into  the  management  of  defence  land.  The software, apart from capturing the textual details of all proposals relating to defence land  management,  integrates  these  textual  details  with  RakshaBhoomisoftware  as well as other relevant GIS-layers which include satellite imagery  of the area, other amenities etc.
- (v) Change detection software based on thermal imagery is used to detect encroachments on far flung defence land pockets.
- (vi) A software has been developed to analyse the open/vacant defence land using satellite imagery  for  management  of  vacant  defence  land  which  is  otherwise  prone  to encroachment.
- (vii) Threat  matrix  based  on  eleven  (11)  objective  criteria  has  been  developed  and implemented to detect vulnerability of defnce land and take appropriate steps based on vulnerability assessment.
- (viii) MoD  has  sanctioned  project  for  construction  of  boundary  walls,  fencing  and boundary pillars for protection of defence land prone to encroachments. Fund has also been allocated for this purpose.
- (ix) Detailed SoP for real time updation of defence land records has been issued to the field officer for efficient management of defence land.

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## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)&  (b)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1693 TO BE ANSWERED ON 16.12.2022 REGARDING 'ENCROACHMENT ON ARMY LAND'.

| Sl.No.   | State/Union Territory   |   Area (in acres) |
|----------|-------------------------|-------------------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh          |      204.77       |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh       |     8322.53       |
| 3        | Assam                   |    18563          |
| 4        | Bihar                   |     2950.23       |
| 5        | Chandigarh              |      145.75       |
| 6        | Chhattisgarh            |     1113.51       |
| 7        | Delhi                   |     6538.44       |
| 8        | Goa                     |      828.25       |
| 9        | Gujarat                 |     8172.96       |
| 10       | Haryana                 |    19038.3        |
| 11       | Himachal Pradesh        |     4869.68       |
| 12       | Jammu& Kashmir          |    15308.3        |
| 13       | Jharkhand               |     5729.14       |
| 14       | Karnataka               |    10493.9        |
| 15       | Kerala                  |      876.55       |
| 16       | Ladakh                  |      176.87       |
| 17       | Madhya Pradesh          |   163899          |
| 18       | Maharashtra             |   104557          |
| 19       | Manipur                 |     1051.23       |
| 20       | Meghalaya               |     4803.86       |
| 21       | Mizoram                 |        0.21       |
| 22       | Nagaland                |      551.28       |
| 23       | Odisha                  |     3180.39       |
| 24       | Punjab                  |    61197.3        |
| 25       | Rajasthan               |   806576          |
| 26       | Sikkim                  |     3082.09       |
| 27       | Tamil Nadu              |     4333.29       |
| 28       | Telangana               |    12726.5        |
| 29       | Tripura                 |     1782.14       |
| 30       | Uttarakhand             |    16780.5        |
| 31       | Uttar Pradesh           |    86717.6        |
| 32       | West Bengal             |    23228.9        |
|          | Total                   |        1.3978e+06 |

State/UT-wise details of total defence land under the management of Army

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