Water bodies and roads encroached in Bihar

34,549 water bodies and 19,739 roads have been encroached in Bihar. A survey had found that the maximum cases registered under the Public Grievances Redressal Act 2015 were related to encroachment.  Now the State Government has lodged 1803 cases against the encroachers of water bodies. The land and revenue department asked all divisional commissioners and District magistrates to clear the encroachments from the water bodies and roads.  This is initiated after the launch of Jal Jeevan Hriyali Mission to revive water bodies.  The ground water table in the state has gone down from 10 to 200 feet over the last decade. As per the official report, 34,559 water bodies out of the total 1,48,231, has been encroached upon. An inquiry have been set up to study various kinds of encroachment to take a final call on its ownership. There are two types of encroachments:

1.      On the Dynamic water bodies: Water bodies emerging from the Himalayas and Chhota Nagpur regions. They meander and change course over the period (years) and people are found to settle along them.  This is called topo land;

2.      On the static water bodies: On this, the District administration is instructed to clear the encroachments.