Tuesday, 19 May 2026 –
A fresh political flashpoint has erupted in Jammu after the Union Territory’s Forest and Environment Minister Javed Ahmed Rana publicly condemned an eviction drive carried out in the Sidhra area on the city’s outskirts, describing it as an “alleged illegal eviction drive” and ordering a departmental inquiry into the matter. The minister has stated that action will be taken against all those found responsible — including forest department officials — calling the drive unjust and disproportionate.
The controversy centres on anti-encroachment operations that have been gathering pace in the Sidhra-Ragoora belt of Jammu, where multiple demolition drives have been conducted in recent weeks by the Jammu Development Authority and forest authorities on land they describe as state property. The interventions have generated competing political narratives, with some voices, particularly in the BJP, championing the drives as essential to reclaim encroached land, while others — including residents and now a sitting minister — pushing back against the manner of enforcement.
Rana’s intervention is significant because it pits a member of the ruling government directly against the bureaucracy carrying out these operations. His public stance signals internal disagreement over the pace and legality of land action in Jammu, and raises questions about how far the clean-up mandate extends before it crosses into contested territory. The inquiry he has ordered is expected to examine whether due process was followed before structures were demolished.
