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The Defence Ministry has admitted that approximately 11,051 acres of its 17.30 lakh acres of land across the country has been encroached or occupied illegally. Leading the list of states where the maximum number of encroachments has taken place is Uttar Pradesh (2,949 acres), followed closely by Maharashtra (2,285 acres). Some others states in the list include Haryana (961 acres), Jammu and Kashmir (722 acres), Assam (617 acres), Punjab (494 acres), Bihar (456 acres), Madhya Pradesh (448 acres), Rajasthan (418 acres), West Bengal (406 acres), Gujarat (304 acres) and Delhi (107 acres). "The Government's proposal to undertake internal audit of the defence estates in various cantonments etc is under consideration," Defence Minister A K Antony told Rajya Sabha. "The action for removal of encroachments or illegal occupation of defence land is taken under the provisions of the Cantonments Act 2006 and Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971," he added.

11,051 acres of defence land occupied illegally