Indore: Demarcation of Kanh and Saraswati along 22km stretch in the district, has taken district administration by surprise as hundreds of constructions, which have been constructed ‘illegally’ by encroaching upon catchment area, have come up in field report. The authorities will now seek guidance from divisional commissionerate to take appropriate actions including removal of the same.Following instructions of National Green Tribunal and as part of river revival project , district administration had started demarcation of rivers flowing through Rau, Malharganj and Juni Indore tehsil on January 31. In the process, officials identified 657 ‘illegal’ constructions including commercial establishments within 30m of the rivers in Malharganj tehsil while hundreds of encroachments are also expected in remaining two tehsils.“Exact figure of encroachments (by adding that of identified in Rau and Juni Indore with Malharganj Tehsil’s data) falling within 30m range of rivers are likely to be compiled on Friday,” ADM Kailash Wankhede told TOI.He added that report will be sent to divisional commissioner Akash Tripathi seeking guidance to decide further course of action.“As per NGT’s instructions, no construction should be carried within set limit of the river’s catchment area and existing ones should be removed for river’s survival,” Kishore Kodwani, who is petitioner in NGT for revival of the rivers, told TOI.According to administrative officials, removing ‘encroachments’ from rivers’ catchment areas, which could be in thousands, is part of Indore Municipal Corporation’s (IMC) work in city while in rural areas, administration will take the lead. However, action is unlikely this calendar year due to upcoming Lok Sabha polls followed by civic body elections.

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