Illegal Constructions By NIMS, Sown Crops Removed On Day 1 Of Eviction Drive In Catchment Areas Of Dam Jaipur: Acting on the Rajasthan High Court directive, district administration on Friday launched an anti-encroachment drive in the catchment area of Ramgarh dam. On the first day of this three-day drive, the officials demolished the boundary wall and constructions on the playground area of the National Institute of Medical Science (NIMS) University among other things. The encroachments – haphazard construction of structures and illegal farms – have hampered the natural flow of water. Teams constituted by district collector Naveen Mahajam for Amber, Jamwaramgarh, Shahpura and Viratnagar tehsils carried out the drive in the presence of local police. “We have removed encroachments from 41.19 hectares of land in four tehsils. Encroachments spreading over about 170 hectares would be cleared over the next two days,’’ Mahajan said. In Amber, the team freed 2.5 hectares land from encroachments. The Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) enforcement team started the drive from National Institute of Medical Science (NIMS) university where a 26 metre-wide bridge, a small area of tennis court and an illegal constructed on playground located near the drain area, were demolished. At several places, the team cleared crops sown in the catchment area. An official said, “We have removed encroachment from around two bighas of land in Keeratpura village and three bighas in Sayari village where crop was sown in the catchment area.” The team also demolished the boundary wall at Achrol on Delhi road. However, the team failed to widen the Naala at Kant Kalwar as planned since the officials had not properly demarcated it earlier. According to the officials, in Jamwaramgarh the campaign was carried out in Bimas, Samred, Goriana village and around 4.5 hectares was freed from encroachments. Similarly, around 8.19 hectares in Shahpura teshil and 25.92 hectares in Viratnagar teshsil were made encroachment free. Though the drive ended peacefully on the first day, the local farmers claimed that the officials were deliberately targeting the community while certain constructions of influential people are being over-looked. The officials, in turn, denied the charges. The drive is being conducted on the basis of a survey on the encroachments conducted by the district administration, which was completed a couple of days ago. The state government swung into action after being pulled up by the Rajasthan High Court recently. Ramgarh dam, which was one of the major water bodies of the city two decades ago, has now dried up. The court directed the state government to remove all the encroachments in and around the dam, following which the state government has launched an effort to revive the dam.