GREATER NOIDA: A minority panel claiming allegiance to the Wakf Board in Dankaur of Gautam Budh Nagar district has written to theUP chief minister, apart from the Union home ministry, that suspended SDM Durga Sakthi Nagpal was not just a victim of the cunning acts of the sand mafia but also of land-grabbers. Kadir Khan Jayaswal, secretary of the Hazrat Syed Bhureshah Committee, has written that the officer was suspended when local mafia misrepresented facts to the CM that there was communal tension in the area.
The committee has demanded that the CM immediately re-instate Nagpal. In the letter (a copy of which is with TOI) committee members have threatened they would sit on an indefinite strike in front of the collectorate in Surajpur if their demand is not met. Heaping praises upon the suspended officer, the committee has written that Nagpal is an honest, judicious and impartial officer. It has also been mentioned in the letter that local residents are extremely pleased with the official for the service she has rendered to uplift the region. Members of the committee said that in a similar issue in another village, the land mafia had allegedly encroached upon portions of an 8 bigha graveyard. "Several complaints were made by the committee and locals to the district administration and the police, but they did not pay any heed," said Jayaswal.
http://timecity/noida/Durga-also-targeted-by-land-sharks-Wakf panel/articleshow/21610912.cmssofindia.indiatimes.com/
Sand mining ravages farmland in villages
NOIDA/GREATER NOIDA: Sand mafia in Gautam Budh Nagar have not just destroyed the floodplains along the Yamuna and Hindon rivers but also ravaged fertile land belonging to local farmers making them useless for agriculture. According to locals, this has led to shortage of vegetables ending in skyrocketing prices. Local residents are scared that now that the government has "got Durga Sakthi Nagpal out of the way", who will save them from the mafia which was back in business. "Noida, which was self-reliant on vegetables, now has to depend on the Azadpur sabzi mandi in Delhi," said Dushyant Nagar, a farmer leader.
TOI visited a few villages where lands have reportedly been left useless after the mining. Villagers also said that on opposing the mafia they have faced attacks and threats to their lives. They alleged that the police and administration have so far ignored their repeated pleas for help. "The mafia resorts to violence in the dead of night whenever they face resistance to their illegal activities. We have witnessed many shootouts. They even beat up locals who complain to the police," said Vikram, a resident of Garhi Smastipur, a hub for illegal sand mining.
"We were relieved when Durga Sakthi Nagpal went after the sand mafia. We need more honest officers like her," said Mohamed Zaheed from Nangli Bazidpur village. Land owners also said that besides illegally excavating sand, the mafia also dug up earth from their plots. A look at the vast area behind several high-rises under construction between Sectors 151 and 155, a 2 sq km stretch from the service lane of the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway till the Yamuna, has been left pockmarked with deep craters as earth had been removed. Every village in the vicinity has the same story to tell. Some poor farmers have also started working for the mafia.
Any opposition to illegal dredging is stopped with force. The recent murder of crusader Paleram Chauhan, a resident of Raipur village of Sector 126, proves this. Referring to his father's documents against brazen mining around his village, Paleram's son Ravinder Chauhan said his father had approached the Allahabad high court, the UP chief minister and local administration but to no avail. In Greater Noida, illegal dredging is being carried out in Ghabara, Kambakshpur, Faleda, Tekpur, Jaganpur, among other areas. Even in these places, residents narrated incidents of attacks and physical abuse by the sand mining mafia on people opposing them.
Recently a group of villagers had to face illegal activity in Roja Yakubpur of Greater Noida. When they protested, shots were fired at them. Though many preferred to remain silent, a few reflected on Nagpal's determination to clamp down on the offenders. "Because of the nexus between the officials, cops and mafia, our lives are at stake," said Ved Pal Singh, a villager.
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