Proposed police colony: HC stays action as villagers allege ‘forcible’ perimeter fencing of 100-plus canals in Bandipora

Srinagar: The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has intervened to halt further administrative action on a prime agricultural tract measuring over 100 kanals in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district, where authorities have proposed a police housing colony.

The court directed that no administrative steps on the disputed land may proceed outside the due process of law until further orders.

The ad-interim restraint order was handed down by a single-judge bench of Justice Mohd Yousuf Wani during the initial hearing of a writ petition moved by Ali Mohammad Parray alongside 14 other residents of Putushay village.

While safeguarding the immediate possession of the local farmers, the bench issued formal notices to the Union Territory administration and its allied departments, seeking their response ahead of the next scheduled hearing on July

“In the meantime, subject to any vacation/modification upon the consideration of objections/arguments of the other side and till further orders, the non-applicants/respondents are restrained from interfering with the subject matter of the petition except under due course of law,” the court ordered.

The legal gridlock involves a sprawling agricultural stretch in Putushay village of Bandipora, where the J&K administration intends to set up a comprehensive police housing complex.

Represented by advocate Ishtiyaq Ahmad Mir, the agrarian petitioners approached the court after revenue officials, backed by police personnel, allegedly moved onto the site to forcibly erect perimeter fencing and mount large project signboards.

According to the case details, the official signboards claim an area of 110 kanals and 2 marlas for the housing project. It has been contended by the villagers that this executive drive was executed unilaterally, entirely bypassing mandatory land laws. They claim that the administration went ahead with physical possession of the 100-plus kanals of land without preparing a final demarcation report or issuing formal land acquisition notifications under the governing statutes.

The villagers further brought to the bench’s notice that their families have been in continuous, peaceful possession of the site for generations, cultivating standing paddy and maintaining high-yield apple orchards, which form their single source of livelihood. The villagers argued that the targeted ground includes a combination of private proprietary holdings and Shamilat/Kahcharai (common grazing) land.

They said that even if the government claims a title over the land, settled legal precedents strictly forbid the state from dispossessing long-term occupants or destroying standing crops without an explicit, legally mandated process.

Beyond the immediate title dispute, the villagers have raised major ecological alarms regarding the project’s geographic footprint. The villagers claim that the proposed colony sits in hazardous proximity to Wular Lake, a highly sensitive wetland protected internationally under the Ramsar Convention.

It has been strongly contended by the villagers that any heavy structural footprint on these 100-plus kanals of land would directly encroach upon the wetland’s protective buffer zone.

They argue that the ongoing physical work runs entirely counter to the environmental preservation directives previously issued by both the High Court’s Division Bench and the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

After considering the arguments, Justice Mohd Yousuf Wani said that the bench had evaluated the application alongside the annexed photographic evidence of the fencing before granting interim protection.

While the order avoids ruling on the final ownership of the property, it freezes administrative operations on the ground, ensuring the local ecology and agricultural livelihood remain protected until the government submits its defence.