Mehbooba Mufti said that the endeavour of the government should have been to improve the lives of the people living here by inviting investment, but through attempts to allot lands to outsiders, it has become an attempt to import slums into J&K.
SRINAGAR — Former J&K Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday questioned the decision of the J&K government to allot land to 1.45 lakh homeless locals.
Addressing a media conference here, Mufti said, “According to the 2011 Census and as per a reply given in the Parliament by the Ministry of Urban Development in 2021, there are 1,90,047 homeless people in J&K.
“The Lieutenant Governor recently announced that so far, 5 marlas of land has been given to each of the 1.45 lakh homeless people in J&K. Who are these people to whom these lands have been allotted?”
She also said that in the entire country, J&K is considered to be a green belt.
“Is this an attempt to convert J&K into a slum,” she asked.
She said that the endeavour of the government should have been to improve the lives of the people living here by inviting investment, but through attempts to allot lands to outsiders, it has become an attempt to import slums into J&K.
She alleged that Jammu division, especially the districts of Kathua, Samba, Jammu and Reasi, will become the first victims of this so-called ‘land onslaught’.
“We must learn from the people of Leh and Kargil who are preserving their natural resources, land and properties from outside invasion,” she said. — IANS
