Jaipur: Rajasthan High Court Thursday directed removal of 273 encroachments from the catchment area of Ramgarh Dam, giving encroachers 15 days to remove the structures themselves. In case they fail, state govt will initiate removal and recover expenses from them. The court has categorically said that protests against Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) action should be dealt with legally.A bench of Acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Justice Chandra Shekhar Sharma passed the directions while JDA counsel filed an affidavit explaining the situation regarding encroachments in Ramgarh Dam’s catchment area. JDA was represented by its counsel Amit Kuri.According to the report, the 273 encroachments include farmhouses, farm lands and some buildings of NIMS, besides other structures. However, NIMS’ counsel maintained that the buildings are situated almost 40 km away from Ramgarh Dam. Responding to this, Advocate General Rajendra Prasad said that the catchment area is spread over 60 km.The directions come against the backdrop of prolonged judicial monitoring of Ramgarh Dam catchment area, with the court repeatedly stressing the need to protect the reservoir’s catchment and natural water channels from encroachment and construction.The issue has remained before the court for several yearsThe matter will be taken up again in the third week of Sept to review action taken by state govt and JDA.
