Delhi government sits on a shocking report showing an illegal mega-crore land grab by religious bodies
Prime land in Delhi totalling 19.55 acres and worth over Rs1,860 crore at current market rates is in the illegal possession of various “social organizations” in the national capital. This was unearthed by a survey conducted by the Delhi government last year. The exercise, which took six months, submitted its report on February 15, 2006. We reproduce here the survey’s listing of the illegal occupants.
No action has been taken by the authorities since the submission of the report. Letters sent by gfiles to the Lieutenant-Governor, Chief Minister, Development Commissioner, Chief Secretary and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on the matter received no response till the time of going to press.
Some proceedings to evict these illegal occupants are pending in Delhi courts.
The survey found that 103 religious and social organizations and two educational institutions had illegally occupied land. Of them, the Guru Singh Sabha in Nauroji Nagar and the Guru Ravi Das Dharamsthan in Motibagh transferred their land to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA). The Jagannath Mandir in Bela Road and the Nirmal Sant Kutia in Guru Tegh Bahadur Nagar, near Shastri Market, also transferred their land to DDA “for care and maintenance”. Proceedings for such transfer of land have been initiated by some more organizations but 83 of them continue to occupy land illegally.
The 1200-sq-yard plot occupied by the Arya Samaj Mandir in Subhash Nagar was originally allotted to the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) for a primary school in 1976.
In many cases, the original occupants have in turn lost the land to other illegal occupants. For instance, though on paper the Christian Cemetery in Aliganj is in illegal occupation of 3 bighas, this area is actually occupied by Chande Lal Saini. The Balmiki Mandir Sudhar Samiti in D Block, East Kidwai Nagar one had 367 sq. yards of unauthorized land but this is a closed case as no land is available anymore. The two educational institutions that illegally occupied land were the Sanjay Bal Vidyalaya in Sector VII, RK Puram and the Digamber Jain Mahila Ashram in Daryaganj. Eviction proceedings against the latter are pending in court.
Major Defaulters
| Organization / Location | Amount (Rs) |
|---|---|
| Asha Ram Ji Trust (Ridge Area) | 2,15,60,00,000 |
| Roman Catholic Church (Humayun Road) | 97,65,00,000 |
| Hanuman Mandir (Sardar Patel Marg) | 1,56,84,40,000 |
| Gurudwara Gurmat Prachar Sabha (Sector IX, R K Puram) | 30,26,82,000 |
| Buddhist India Mahavira (Bela Road) | 48,40,00,000 |
| Sindhi Panchayat Shri Udero Lal Sahib Mandir (Sector VI, RK Puram) | 26,62,00,000 |
| Delhi Pradesh Dhobi Maha Sabha (VP House, Rafi Marg) | 20,50,20,000 |
The Great Land Grab
