DW BUREAU / mohali in a major action by the Punjab government, 125 acres of land of Siswan village located on the outskirts of Chandigarh has been freed from illegal occupation and taken under possession. The value of this land is hundreds of crores of rupees, which was illegally occupied by 13 persons. This information was given by Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Panchayat while addressing the press conference at Siswan Dam today. He said that, this Panchayati land of Siswan village has been freed from illegal occupation by the Rural Development and Panchayat Department and entered into the records of the Revenue Department. He said that this land adjacent to former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh's farm house was illegally occupied by 13 persons. He said that the estimated value of this land is 2 or 2.5 crore per acre. He said that in the near future, another 8,000 acres of land in this area, which has been encroached illegally, will be taken under possession through legal process. He said that Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann had instructed the Rural Development and Panchayat Department in the month of May to identify the agricultural and commercial lands of Punjab which have been illegally encroached upon and free them from encroachment. He said that the department had started its campaign on May 1 and had set a target of freeing 5 thousand acres of land from illegal occupation by the month of June, but the department had freed 6100 acres of land from illegal occupation by the month of June and now with freeing 125 acres of land from illegal occupations in Siswan, in total 6225 acres of land has been freed from illegal occupations. He said that the government is not using any kind of pressure or force while freeing the Panchayat land from illegal possessions, but the action is being taken through the full legal process. He said that the report submitted by Justice Kuldeep Singh has been meticulously reviewed by his department and action will be initiated as per what is mentioned in it. In response to the question asked, Mr. Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said that the land that has been freed from illegal possessions, if it is feasible to lease out this land it will be given on lease and if any land can be sold, then the government will take appropriate action by making a policy. Mr. Dhaliwal also assured the people of Punjab that where the illegal occupation of Panchayat land will be removed, no one will be allowed to grab Panchayati land in the future. On this occasion, Director of Rural Development and Panchayat Department Gurpreet Singh Khaira, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) Amardeep Singh Gujral, SDM. Kharar Ravinder Singh, District Development and Panchayat Officer Amarinder Singh, Secretary Zilla Parishad Ranjit Singh, Block Development and Panchayat Officer Majri Nidhi Sinha were present. (editor@dailyworld.in)