LUCKNOW, April 20 -- The Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) has reclaimed 153 hectares of encroached land worth nearly Rs 2,500 crore over the past two years, marking one of its largest anti-encroachment drives in the state capital. The civic body has combined eviction action with legal enforcement and preventive steps to secure the recovered land. Pankaj Srivastava, additional municipal commissioner and in-charge of the property section, said on Saturday that around 30 FIRs have been registered against individuals allegedly involved in illegal occupation of municipal land across multiple villages. "All the reclaimed parcels are vested land of the LMC, and we have taken strict action to secure them," he said. The civic body recently carried out action in villages including Mastemau, Sarsawan, Behsa and other parts of the city as part of its ongoing enforcement campaign. Srivastava said eviction drives have been conducted in 340 cases, many of which are currently under judicial process. Officials are pursuing these cases in courts to ensure accountability and prevent future disputes over the reclaimed land. To deter fresh encroachments, the corporation has begun physically securing vulnerable plots. Funds have been allocated for installing wire fencing and constructing fabricated boundaries. Signboards marking municipal ownership are also being put up to prevent illegal occupation. The civic body has also initiated plantation drives on several reclaimed sites. Officials said this step is expected to safeguard land from fresh encroachment while contributing to improving air quality and increasing green cover in the city. On April 17, 2026, LMC carried out a drive in Aurangabad Jagir village under Sarojini Nagar tehsil, freeing around 0.557 hectares of government land....