CHANDIGARH, JULY 10
Thousands of harried and helpless people, residing on Ther Mound in Sirsa District for decades, can now heave a sigh of relief. They no more face the threat of being dislodged and displaced, their dwellings pulled down, and their source of livelihood snatched from them.
The Haryana Government has decided to solve the 85-year-old problem of Ther Mound in Sirsa, a creation of the previous governments. It has started the process to de-notify the protected area of Ther Mound. A public notice in this regard has already been issued by the state government.
Stating this here today, Political Advisor to Chief Minister, Mr Jagdish Chopra, said that the Ther Mound problem had been lying pending for decades. A notification had been issued about 85 years ago under which Ther Mound of Sirsa was declared a protected area by the Archeological Department.
Due to the negligence of previous governments, many people had migrated to this place from Western Pakistan in 1947. They have no place and no means of livelihood. Some of them started living on Ther Mound, and gradually the economically backward people who did not get a place anywhere, had made houses on Ther Mound. Besides, there was another section of the society which had made their houses despite financial crunch.
He said at present Ther Mound had more than 3,000 houses with a population of 15,000 to 20,000. A PLI petition was filed and nine years ago in the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the court gave verdict against the Ther Mound residents. The court had ordered the government to vacate Ther Mound site but no previous government cared a bit for the people.
Mr Chopra said when the matter of Ther Mound came to the notice of the BJP Government after its formation the government deeply studied all the aspects. The government thought of filing an appeal against the high court verdict but the time to file an appeal was over. It could not be filed after nine years. The government constituted a committee having one member each from the Archeological Survey of India (ASI), Archeology Department, Haryana, and Archeology Department, Kurushetra University. The committee went into all aspects and submitted its report to the government. The committee had unanimously accepted that so many people resided on Ther Mound and just a short area had been left which cannot be utilized for the purpose of archaeological excavations.
After getting report of experts, a meeting was held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal. After in-depth deliberations, it was decided that it would be impossible to utilize this land for archeological purposes and that the land should be de-notified and the ASI informed accordingly.
It was also decided that a public notice should be given that the Haryana Government would de-notify Ther Mound area. Mr Chopra expressed the hope that the people will get rid of a long pending problem after de-notification.
----balbirsingh227@gmail.com
Thousands of harried and helpless people, residing on Ther Mound in Sirsa District for decades, can now heave a sigh of relief. They no more face the threat of being dislodged and displaced, their dwellings pulled down, and their source of livelihood snatched from them.
The Haryana Government has decided to solve the 85-year-old problem of Ther Mound in Sirsa, a creation of the previous governments. It has started the process to de-notify the protected area of Ther Mound. A public notice in this regard has already been issued by the state government.
Stating this here today, Political Advisor to Chief Minister, Mr Jagdish Chopra, said that the Ther Mound problem had been lying pending for decades. A notification had been issued about 85 years ago under which Ther Mound of Sirsa was declared a protected area by the Archeological Department.
Due to the negligence of previous governments, many people had migrated to this place from Western Pakistan in 1947. They have no place and no means of livelihood. Some of them started living on Ther Mound, and gradually the economically backward people who did not get a place anywhere, had made houses on Ther Mound. Besides, there was another section of the society which had made their houses despite financial crunch.
He said at present Ther Mound had more than 3,000 houses with a population of 15,000 to 20,000. A PLI petition was filed and nine years ago in the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the court gave verdict against the Ther Mound residents. The court had ordered the government to vacate Ther Mound site but no previous government cared a bit for the people.
Mr Chopra said when the matter of Ther Mound came to the notice of the BJP Government after its formation the government deeply studied all the aspects. The government thought of filing an appeal against the high court verdict but the time to file an appeal was over. It could not be filed after nine years. The government constituted a committee having one member each from the Archeological Survey of India (ASI), Archeology Department, Haryana, and Archeology Department, Kurushetra University. The committee went into all aspects and submitted its report to the government. The committee had unanimously accepted that so many people resided on Ther Mound and just a short area had been left which cannot be utilized for the purpose of archaeological excavations.
After getting report of experts, a meeting was held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal. After in-depth deliberations, it was decided that it would be impossible to utilize this land for archeological purposes and that the land should be de-notified and the ASI informed accordingly.
It was also decided that a public notice should be given that the Haryana Government would de-notify Ther Mound area. Mr Chopra expressed the hope that the people will get rid of a long pending problem after de-notification.
----balbirsingh227@gmail.com
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