Jammu, Oct 3: Authorities on Saturday demolished nearly a dozen illegally constructed huts on forest land in Jammu, most of which were reportedly occupied by Rohingya immigrants, officials said.
The anti-encroachment drive was conducted by the Forest Department in coordination with the Forest Protection Force, Revenue Department and police at Rahim Nagar in the Raika Forest area on the outskirts of Jammu.
A Jammu resident, identified as Stephen, was among those whose structure was demolished. He alleged that he was not served any prior notice and said the demolition team arrived early in the morning, giving occupants little time to remove their belongings.
A forest official, however, said the occupants had been warned twice within a fortnight before the action and were allowed to remove their belongings before the structures were demolished. The official said women and children were also moved out with the assistance of women police personnel.
The official said the area covers around five hectares and that the department had prepared detailed records of the identified encroachments.
He said the drive was not directed against any particular community but was aimed solely at clearing encroachments from forest land, adding that forest rules applied equally to everyone.
Rohingya residents said they had been living in the area for nearly two decades after fleeing difficult circumstances in Myanmar and claimed the eviction had left several families without shelter.
One resident, Abdul Khaliq, said they had no place to go and appealed to the authorities to consider the situation of the affected families.
The forest official said further action would be taken against other identified encroachments and advised those requiring accommodation to seek rented housing or acquire land through legal means.
The latest action comes a month after authorities cleared a Rohingya settlement in the Karyani Talab area of Jammu following eviction notices to plot owners who had rented their land to immigrants.
The developments followed a visit by a Central committee to Jammu from August 10 to 12 to gather information on demographic changes, including alleged illegal immigration. The committee also visited the Karyani Talab settlement.
Government data presented before the committee in August showed that 7,656 Rohingyas had been identified across Jammu and Kashmir, including 6,737 in the 10 districts of the Jammu region and 919 in the 10 districts of the Kashmir Valley.
