The Jalpaiguri district administration on Wednesday instructed the Gajoldoba Development Authority (GDA) to take possession of a parcel of land that was earmarked to build the office of the GDA but had been encroached on for years.

The administration could not trace the person who had encroached on the plot measuring 63 decimals or around 2,700 square feet.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had recently instructed officials to remove encroachers and take possession of all government plots in the state.

Accordingly, the Jalpaiguri district administration conducted a survey to find out the government plots which individuals expropriated. A plot, which is in the Junglemahal mouza of Rajganj block near Gajoldoba and had been marked for the GDA’s office, was found to be grabbed illegally.

“We were surprised to see that the plot had been walled up and some structures built on the land,” said Khageswar Roy, the vice-chairman of the GDA and the Rajganj Trinamool Congress MLA.

Mamata had formed the GDA to develop Gajoldoba and its surrounding areas. Bhorer Alo, the mega tourism hub and the dream project of the chief minister, is in Gajoldoba.

Malbazar subdivisional officer Shuvam Kundal, who is also the executive officer of the GDA, filed a case in the court of Tomojeet Chakraborty, the Jalpaiguri SDO. Gajoldoba is in the Jalpaiguri subdivision.

Chakraborty heard the case and ordered a probe. During the inquiry, it was found that in 2018, the state municipal affairs and urban development department had handed over the plot to the GDA for the construction of its administrative building.

“A report was submitted to the court of the SDO (Jalpaiguri) who then ordered that the person who had encroached on the plot be informed that the land belongs to the GDA. Accordingly, a notice was plastered at the site and public announcements were made so that the encroacher would turn up. No one has, however, turned up with any claim,” said a source.

When the matter was heard in the SDO’s court again on Wednesday, Chakraborty ordered the GDA to take possession of the land. “The GDA could not find the encroacher. Today, we ordered the GDA to take possession of the land,” said Chakraborty.

Jalpaiguri district magistrate Shama Parveen said the administration would continue to free government plots of encroachers. “We have reclaimed many such patches of land. Display boards have been put up to inform people that the government owns the plots concerned,” she said.