By Our Staff Reporter
Haldwani, 26 Nov: Following the orders of the Supreme Court in the case of encroachment on Railway land in Haldwani (District Nainital), the district administration and the railways have jointly surveyed the encroachment site. The survey is stated to be completed now, and the district administration has sent the report to the government. Based on the report, the government will be required to prepare a plan for eviction as has been directed by the Supreme Court.
It may be recalled that the Railways need about 30 hectares of land for expansion in Haldwani. This Railway land is located in Banbhulpura which is mostly encroached upon by members of a particular community and the previous attempt to get the land vacated had resulted in large scale riots in Haldwani, injuring many police and district officials. However, during the hearing, the Supreme Court had directed an adequate rehabilitation plan before the Railways and the administration can get the land vacated.
Approximately 3,800 houses, government institutions, and five thousand families fall under the purview of this railway land. The Supreme Court directed the district administration and the railways to create a plan for the rehabilitation of people before removing the encroachment. Following the Supreme Court’s instructions, the district administration conducted a survey regarding the encroachment on railway land.
After a survey that lasted about two months, the district administration has sent its final report to the government. It is expected that this matter will soon be heard in the Supreme Court.
The Railways has claimed that people have occupied about 30 hectares of its land in the Banbhulpura. Approximately 5,500 families are settled in this area, having built permanent houses. The Uttarakhand High Court had ordered the removal of the people settled here. The railways also issued notices to the encroachers, instructing them to vacate the land, and ordered the demolition of the permanent houses, leading to large-scale protests.
It may be pertinent to point out here that taking cognisance of a previous Supreme Court judgement, Uttarakhand High Court had rejected the appeal of the encroachers to grant them relief. However, when the matter reached the Supreme Court, the apex court ordered proper rehabilitation of the affected families. Since then, this case has been ongoing in the Supreme Court.
