Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday asked squatters to vacate government land by May 31 or face action. The ultimatum comes a day after Punjab Rural Development and Panchayat Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal directed officials to ensure the removal of encroachments from government panchayat land by June 10.

Mann said the state government is committed to freeing land from squatters and an anti-encroachment drive will begin on June 1. However, if there are houses on such land, people living in them will not be dislocated during the drive, he added.

From day one of assuming office, Mann said, his government had adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards encroachments. He lamented that previous governments in the state allowed "affluent people" to encroach on government land by violating norms and termed it "unwarranted and undesirable".

Mann, according to an official statement, said it is a matter of great pride and satisfaction that the state government has so far freed more than 9,000 acres of government land from encroachers. He said the momentum will be maintained and "every inch" of government land under illegal occupation will be vacated by all means.