Suspended Surat Collector Ayush Oak Faces New Land Fraud Allegations

Surat : Ayush Oak, a suspended former Surat District Collector, is embroiled in yet another land fraud in Surat. During his term, Oak brazenly disregarded the Gujarat High Court judgement by approving Non-Agriculture (NA) approval for land blocks 608, 627, and 628 in Bhatha village, Choryasi taluka, Surat, in December 2023. Following the NA approval, land owned by diamond barons, renowned realtors, and jewellers in Surat began construction of farm houses along the Tapi river embankment by illegally constructing the compound wall and excavating soil, putting tens of thousands of people in Adajan and Pal at risk of flooding. 

Darshan Naik, a social activist, has petitioned Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel to file a criminal complaint against former Surat district collector Ayush Oak for violating Gujarat High Court orders dismissing the petition for granting NA permission and construction in land blocks 608, 627, and 628 in Bhatha village. According to Naik, Oak used his position as Surat’s district collector to endanger the lives of tens of thousands of people. Despite the High Court ruling, Oak provided NA approval, allowing the diamond barons and realtors to illegally construct compound walls by filling the land on the Tapi river embankment by more than 8 metres, putting neighbouring areas at risk of flooding. 

According to Naik, the low-lying area to the south of the embankment, where soil reclamation and development work is underway, is close to government land in Bhatha village. These fields have been filled with around 8 to 9 meters of soil. Where did all of this soil come from? How many metric tons of soil were used? Which agency supplied the soil and from where? How many trucks of soil were filled? How much royalty has been paid since the start of soil reclamation until now? If it is filled, the receipts should be reviewed. All of these details should be examined. 

“According to information we acquired from locals, due to the landowners’ ties with political party leaders, private landowners dug soil from government land and used it to raise the height to protect their farm buildings from floods in the Tapi River. The diamond barons and realtors ignored that the illegal land filling exercise would cause significant damage to surrounding residents during river floods” sad Naik. 

“The Tapovan farm on the embankment of Tapi river is totally illegal as per the inquiry commission of Surat Flood Disaster (2006) headed by Justice Sugnyaben K Bhatt. The development permission of Tapovan farm was cancelled in 2004. Still, the former Surat collector approved NA permission and the construction is going on at Tapovan farm and adjoining private plots” said Naik.