Starting Sunday, around 4,000 families living in unauthorised colonies near Haldwani railway station started receiving eviction notices with a 7-day period to vacate the area, following an order from the Uttarakhand High Court.
According to Nainital district officials, a total of 4,365 encroachments will be removed from the area. The residents, some of whom have been living there for decades, have been protesting against the court order.
On December 20, the Uttarakhand High Court ordered the demolition of constructions over encroached railway land at Banbhoolpura in Haldwani. Following this, the railway officials said they have begun the process of demolishing the houses and other structures built on the 2.2 km strip of railway land.
“There are 4,365 encroachments and we will serve a notice tomorrow (Sunday) through local newspapers. The occupants will be given seven days’ time to shift; after that, we will take action,” said Rajendra Singh, Railway PRO, Izzat Nagar, reports the Indian Express.
The state government has said that they have no say in the matter as the land belonged to that of the Railways and the High Court ruled the order in favour of the Railways after hearing all the parties in a case which went on for almost a decade.
Protests break out
Thousands of people from the Haldwani area have taken to the streets in a bid to protect their homes after they were served eviction notices.
The protesters say the removal of encroachments will render them homeless and jeopardise the future of their school-going children.
Residents of the Banbhoolpura area have been asked to deposit their licensed weapons to the administration before the process of removal of encroachments from the land begins.
According to a statement by Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, the land dispute has been of 29 acres of land while people living in 79 acres of land have been served the notice. And this would render more than 50,000 people homeless.
Following the court order, joint teams of railway and revenue officials conducted a drone survey of the encroached area on Thursday. They started demarcating the encroached areas amid protests from the local residents.
Earlier this week, families took out a candlelight march to register their protest. According to various reports, the eviction, which includes the demolition of 20 temples and 9 mosques, will affect families who have lived there for over 40-50 years.
The residents even moved the Supreme Court on Monday against the high court’s order through Congress leader Khurshid, who is also an eminent lawyer.
The apex court will hear the plea on January 5.
Uttarakhand High Court’s order
A division bench of justices Sharad Sharma and RC Khulbe directed that a week’s notice be given to the encroachers after which the encroachments should be demolished.
There are religious places, schools, business establishments, and residences in an area spread over 29 acres of encroached railway land in Banbhoolpura.
On November 9, 2016, the high court ordered the removal of encroachments from the railway land within 10 weeks, while hearing a PIL filed by Ravi Shankar Joshi.
The court had said that all encroachers should be brought under the Railway Public Premises (eviction of unauthorised occupants) Act 1971.
Opposition comes in support of protestors
The opposition parties have sprung in support of the protesting residents.
Congress MLA from Haldwani Sumit Hridayesh on Tuesday “strongly supported” the agitation by residents of the Banbhoolpura area against the removal of encroachments from the “so-called” railway land, holding the state government responsible for their “plight”.
“People are settled in the area (Banbhoolpura) for nearly 100 years. Seventy-year-old mosques and temples stand there. There is nazul land, freehold land, lease holders…” Hridayesh told PTI.
He said the state government never tried to tell the Uttarakhand High Court about the people to be affected by the removal of encroachments, which is being undertaken by the administration in compliance with a high court order.
He said the state government never tried to tell the Uttarakhand High Court about the people to be affected by the removal of encroachments, which is being undertaken by the administration in compliance with a high court order.
“We personally went to the high court to oppose the removal of encroachments from 78 acres of land which the railway calls its own. We went even to the Supreme Court where our senior leader Salman Khurshid is fighting the case but the government which built schools and hospitals on the land did not show any care for its citizens,” Hridayesh said.
Hridayesh, who represents Haldwani seat in the state assembly won traditionally by Congress veteran and his late mother Indira Hridayesh, even recently participated in a dharna being held by the agitating residents.
AICC secretary Kazi Nizamuddin also raised the issue at a press conference in Dehradun on Monday, asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take a humane view of the matter.
He had also thanked Hridayesh for strongly taking up the case.
IG, Kumaon, Nilesh Anand Bharne on Tuesday said 14 companies of the paramilitary forces and five of the Rapid Action Force have been sought from the Centre to carry out the removal of encroachments.
Additional deployment of the police personnel has also been sought from the Garhwal region, he said.
The deployments are likely to reach Haldwani by January 8, Bharne said.
A vigil is being kept through CCTV cameras on elements which may try to vitiate the atmosphere and the intelligence agencies have been alerted, Bharne said.
The high court order will be fully complied with and those trying to disrupt peace will not be spared, the IG said.
