Former MLA Rawat flags alarm over forceful occupation of grazing land in Rudraprayag village
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE | Dehradun
Former Kedarnath MLA and senior State Congress leader, Manoj Rawat raised concerns about the grazing land in Rudrapur village of Rudraprayag district being forcibly occupied by the authorities. Addressing a media conference here on Wednesday, he said that Rudrapur is a small village situated on the Guptkashi-Jakhdhar motor road, home to approximately 200 families most of whom are priests associated with the Kedarnath pilgrimage.
“There are only 7.051 hectares of grazing land and forest left in Rudrapur for 200-odd village families. In 1974, 70 hectares of this land were leased out to landless members of the Scheduled Castes. Additionally, a road and a waiting room have been constructed on 1.74 hectares of this grazing land. The road cuts through the area and the lower section has become a dense forest due to extensive plantation over more than one hectare, rendering it unsuitable for grazing cattle,” he said.
Rawat further said that since 2008, Power Transmission Corporation of Uttarakhand Limited (PTCUL) has been attempting to acquire 2.6 hectares of the remaining prime flat land. “In 2010, the State Forest department issued a government order to lease this land to PTCUL for 30 years, a decision allegedly made in collaboration with certain government departments. Despite this, ten plots are still designated as Gauchar in the revenue documents. However, in the NOC, this land has been incorrectly classified as civil soyam land, while in the revenue records, it has always been categorised as Gauchar land,” he said.
Citing the 2019 animal census, he said that there were 263 grazing animals in the village and the number was likely to have increased since then. “The question is where the village animals will graze if no land is available,” he said, adding that despite the villagers having done the rounds about the offices concerned for years, no action has been taken so far to address their concerns.
