Officials of the Surat district administration have issued a penalty notice of Rs 18 crore to ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel India (AM/NS) for encroachment on government land and demolished around 100 metres of compound wall erected on the outer periphery of the land.
The firm has been given 120 days’ time to pay the penalty amount. Sources said that acting on instructions from Surat District Collector Dr Sourabh Pardhi and complaints from locals, Choryasi Mamlatdar Nirav Paritosh started a drive to spot the encroachment on the government land in Surat’s Hazira area, which has several multinational companies and transport offices.
Following the survey, officials found encroachment in 18 pockets — 10 of which were by AM/NS, while the remaining were by individuals who had built shops, dhabas, hotels, etc.
Paritosh and his teams carried out hearings with the AM/NS officials and subsequently issued a penalty notice of Rs 18 crore over encroachment on 80,000 square metres of land. They also removed encroachment done by individuals and cleared 52,000 square metres of land at Hazira.
District administration officials found that the compound wall erected by AM/NS had become an obstacle for regular traffic. With the company failing to remove the wall, they cleared around 100 metres of land.
Talking to The Indian Express, Paritosh said, “The compound wall was made earlier, but the highway roads were broadened as a result of which the wall area fell under road margin. The highway authorities had earlier given notices to AM/NS, but they failed to act. We also visited the spot and talked to the company authorities and requested them to demolish it but they failed. So we took action on Tuesday and demolished the entire wall.”
“The encroached land in 10 pockets by AM/NS is around 80,000 square metres, and this encroachment was done around 30 years ago. If the company fails to pay the penalty, we will report to higher authorities in district administration, and later, we will take action. Once the company pays the penalty, the future course of action… will be decided. Whether to sell the land to the company or take possession of land will be decided after consultation with officials of higher authorities,” he further said.
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AM/NS did not respond to calls seeking a response on the matter.
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