S.N.Srivastava - (1.) -By an order dated 25.2.2005 this Court made the following orders : ".............State Government is directed to make a thorough investigation of each village of each district throughout State of Uttar Pradesh in respect of forests, tanks, ponds and garhi, water channel and riverbed etc. on the basis of the revenue records of the date of vesting........."
(2.) IN compliance of aforesaid order, learned standing counsel put forth an affidavit. IN paragraph 2 of the said affidavit, it has been averred that the land, which is subject-matter of writ petition, situated in Gaon Sabha Dighara Sumali, Tappa Mail, Pargana Salempur Majhwara, Tehsil Salempur, district Deoria has been earmarked and restored to the possession of Gaon Sabha in the presence of Village Pradhan. Learned standing counsel put forth yet another affidavit sworn by Devendra Nath Verma, Additional Land Reform Commissioner, Board of Revenue, U. P., Lucknow alongwith which copies of circulars dated 29.11.2005 and 20.12.2005 have been annexed. The learned standing counsel apprised the Court that by aforesaid circulars a peremptory direction has been issued to all the District Magistrates to provide information to District Headquarters in regard to forest, ponds, pokhars, water channels, wells and water reservoirs etc. IN paragraph 9 of the said affidavit, it has been averred that in all 15,404 illegal encroachments were removed from the land recorded as ponds, pokhars, water channels, water and reserved area etc. and about 10,006 such encroachments are found to be still subsisting on the spot out of which in most of the cases, the matter is sub-judice in judicial proceeding. Lastly, the authorities prayed for six months more time for review of the status of ponds etc. This Court by a subsequent order dated 6.3.2006 made certain clarifications in the earlier orders forming part of the original order dated 25.2.2005 by which learned standing counsel was directed to file compliance report. When the case was taken up today, a report having complexion of compliance report was filed by Vinod Kumar Sharma, working as Officer on Special Duty, Board of Revenue, U. P., Lucknow in which it was spelt out that the authorities scanned relevant khatauni and detected 3,92,148.586 hectares land recorded as talabs, pokhars, jheel, kuan and water preserver to be in unauthorised possession and further in follow up action, also removed encroachments by launching special drive from the land the area of which admeasures 27,515 hectares. Copies of the reports received from the District Headquarters annexing details prepared on the basis of report submitted by the District Magistrates have been annexed alongwith this affidavit.
(3.) THE averments made in the affidavit further are that the Board of Revenue has addressed a letter to Secretary, Revenue seeking directions/guidelines in respect of clarifications made by the order dated 6.3.2006 and further that partial compliance of the order of the Court has been made and for full compliance some more time has been sought. I perused the reports received from some of the District Magistrates annexed alongwith this affidavit.;