PANAJI
In Goa, about 5.11 acres of defence land has been encroached upon, while another 9.47 acres remains tied up in legal disputes.
The information was provided in the Lok Sabha by the Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth.
As per the records, out of around 18 lakh acres of defence land across the country, about 11,152 acres is under encroachment. In Goa, 5.1166 acres of land is encroached.
Similarly, about 8113 acres of defence land across various States is under litigation.
As reported earlier, the State government handed over nearly 70.22 lakh sq mtrs of land to the Union Defence Ministry, since its liberation in December 1961. A total of 118 plots are under the control of the defence.
Record shows, defence has managed to acquire maximum land in Mormugao taluka, where the Naval base is situated. A total of 31.40 lakh sq mtrs of land, covering 80 plots, are in possession of the defence. This is followed by Tiswadi taluka, where 25.89 sq mtrs of land is with the Indian Army.
The MoS said that the defence land is utilised for bona fide military purposes and to meet strategic, operational and security needs of the Armed Forces.
Around 45906 acres of vacant defence land has been identified, excluding Goa, which is surplus to the requirements of the Armed Forces.
Seth said that the details of these lands have been circulated to the other Central Govt. Departments for ascertaining their requirements for these land pockets.
“Any other lands, which may appear unused are meant for training, mobilization practice, constructions as per Key Location Plans (KLP) and construction of Married Accommodation etc for the Armed Forces,” MoS said.
