Over 18 lakh kanals of land are encroached across Jammu and Kashmir, with only 29,000 kanals retrieved so far from squatters, official data said.
As per official data, a total of 18,38,735.42 kanals of land have been encroached upon, including 17,22,993 kanals of state land and 1,15,742.42 kanals of forest land.
The data said encroachment entries in revenue records have been expunged.
Revenue department officials said they took action under the provisions of the Land Revenue Act to remove encroachers. However, officials termed the issue a matter of concern and said eviction drives are underway, but clarified that no fixed timeframe has been set yet. “Eviction of encroachers and retrieval of encroached state and forest land is a continuous process,” they said.
Among districts, Jammu accounts for 1,45,487 kanals and 6 marlas of encroached state land, while Rajouri tops the list with 2,73,848 kanals and 12 marlas, followed by Reasi with 2,26,857 kanals and 6 marlas, it said.
Other major districts include Ramban with 1,73,832 kanals, Kathua with 1,30,403 kanals, Udhampur with 1,19,822 kanals and Poonch with 1,11,133 kanals, it said.
In Jammu and Kashmir, land is traditionally measured using units like ‘kanal’ and ‘marla’, which are part of an older system still widely used in property and agriculture. One kanal equals 20 marlas, and a kanal measures about 5,445 square feet, while one marla is approximately 272.25 square feet (though slight variations can exist locally).
In the Kashmir division, Bandipora has reported 1,53,271 kanals of encroached state land, followed by Baramulla with 53,449 kanals and Pulwama with 42,730 kanals, it added.
The data reveals major 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), it said.
In Kashmir, forest divisions in Anantnag, Shopian-Pulwama and Budgam have also reported considerable encroachments. The total forest land under encroachment in the region stands at 5,857.41 hectares, it said.
Over 29,067.15 kanals of land have been retrieved from encroachments so far, said officials, adding that of this, 27,351 kanals is state land while the remaining 1,716.15 kanals is forest land.
The data revealed that land retrieval has been reported from several districts since October 2024. Among major recoveries, Doda recorded the retrieval of 13,674 kanals and 13 marlas of state land, followed by Kishtwar with 6,245 kanals and Ramban with 3,362 kanals. Reasi reported recovery of 1,961 kanals, it said.
Kulgam recorded the highest retrieval of forest land at 39.70 hectares, followed by Anantnag (12.33 hectares) and Ramban (10.87 hectares), they added.
Other districts, including Ganderbal, Samba and Rajouri, also reported smaller recoveries, it said.
The government said joint eviction drives are being carried out by the Forest Department in coordination with the Forest Protection Force and police authorities.
They said any latest attempts at encroachment or illegal cultivation are detected and acted upon at the initial stage. Besides, forest boundaries are being re-surveyed using Differential GPS (DGPS) technology to ensure accurate identification of encroachments, while field staff have been directed to maintain strict vigil in vulnerable areas, they said.
Awareness campaigns are also being organised in forest-adjoining villages to sensitise local communities about conservation, they said.
Officials said the Jammu and Kashmir High Court is monitoring the progress of eviction of encroachment in a public interest litigation, with regular status reports being submitted for appraisal.