Pahalgam Development Authority (PDA) which was established in 2003 with the sole objective of developing Pahalgam Hill Station has claimed that from the date of its creation till March 2023, not an inch of its land has been allowed to be encroached by any person.
PDA has made this claim in response to a query raised by social activist M M Shuja through an application filed un Right to Information Act.
As per the news agency Kashmir News Trust, back in 2020, the then Deputy Commissioner Anantnag K K Sidha constituted a committee after the reports surfaced that over 2500 hectares of Government, forest, and wildlife land in Pahalgam is under alleged encroachment.
The information provided by the PDA also revealed that for two consecutive years in 2021 and 2022, it didn’t plant any saplings under its jurisdiction. Pahalgam Development Authority however claimed that it planted 4,500 and 3,000 saplings respectively in 2019 and 2020. [KNT]
