Official data has revealed that more than 18 lakh kanals of land are under encroachment across Jammu and Kashmir, while only about 29,000 kanals have been retrieved from squatters to date.
According to government figures, a total of 18,38,735.42 kanals of land have been encroached upon. This includes 17,22,993 kanals of state land and 1,15,742.42 kanals of forest land.
Revenue department officials stated that they have taken action under the Land Revenue Act to remove encroachers. They described the situation as a matter of concern and confirmed that eviction drives are ongoing, though no fixed deadline has been established. “Eviction of encroachers and retrieval of encroached state and forest land is a continuous process,” they added.
District-wise data for state land encroachment shows that Jammu accounts for 1,45,487 kanals and 6 marlas. Rajouri tops the list with 2,73,848 kanals and 12 marlas, followed by Reasi with 2,26,857 kanals and 6 marlas. Other major districts include Ramban (1,73,832 kanals), Kathua (1,30,403 kanals), Udhampur (1,19,822 kanals), and Poonch (1,11,133 kanals).
In the Kashmir division, Bandipora has reported 1,53,271 kanals of encroached state land, followed by Baramulla (53,449 kanals) and Pulwama (42,730 kanals).
In traditional land measurement used in Jammu and Kashmir, one kanal equals 20 marlas. A kanal is approximately 5,445 square feet, while one marla is about 272.25 square feet, though local variations exist.
The data also highlights significant encroachment on forest land across the Union Territory. In the Jammu division, Rajouri has the highest forest land encroachment at 4,899.16 hectares, followed by Reasi (2,780.38 hectares) and Ramban (2,648.63 hectares). Other affected districts include Poonch (965.92 hectares), Jammu (645.85 hectares), and Kathua (590.38 hectares). In Kashmir, forest divisions in Anantnag, Shopian-Pulwama, and Budgam have also reported considerable encroachments, with total forest land under encroachment in the region standing at 5,857.41 hectares.
