The matter of encroachment on railway land in Haldwani has reached the Supreme Court. This is not the first case. Earlier this happened in Gujarat and Haryana as well. Know, how much encroachers have encroachment on railway land in the country?
Image Credit source: @ShayarImran
Haldwani The matter of encroachment on 78 acres of railway station land is in discussion. Uttarakhand High Court After the order of the encroachment is almost certain to be removed. After this order, the people who came under the ambit of encroachment have now reached the Supreme Court. They are seeking relief from the Supreme Court. Appealing that the government should make arrangements for their stay before removing them. The Supreme Court will hear the matter on January 5.
In Haldwani, in the area adjacent to the railway station, there are thousands of pucca houses along with kutchi settlements. They come under encroachment. Getting ready to remove them.This is not the first case when the matter regarding encroachment on railway land has reached the court. Earlier, a similar case had also come to the fore in Gujarat and Haryana.
Know what is the whole matter of Haldwani, how much encroachers encroached on railway lands and what happened in the case of Gujarat?
Encroachment of workers started in Haldwani after independence?
An advertisement was published in the newspapers of Haldwani on the new year i.e. 1st January. In the advertisement, it was said to vacate Vanbhulpura area under the illegal occupation of railway land. In this, the areas of Dholak Basti, Gafoor Basti of Vanbhulpura as well as Indira Nagar, Line No. 17, Badi Thok and Chhoti Thok are included. Before independence, there used to be orchards, wooden godowns and factories in this part. Muslim communities from Rampur, Moradabad and Bareilly came here to work in these.
They settled in this part and the encroachment increased. The maximum number of illegal encroachments has been reported in Gafoor Basti, which is being prepared to be encroached free. 50 thousand people from about 4400 families come under its jurisdiction. Some claim that they have been living here for decades. Now before removing them, the government should give them land to settle somewhere.Officials say, a campaign will be launched to remove encroachments within 2.2 km radius of Haldwani station.
Rajya Sabha MP Imran Pratapgarhi raised the issue by tweeting
People break down to build a house, you don’t feel sorry for burning settlements
In Haldwani, preparations are on to destroy not one or two but 4500 houses, it is being said that it is railway land, the houses where people have been living for many decades will now be demolished, why is the government being so oppressive?@RailMinIndia pic.twitter.com/DvPTuUa8lJ
— Imran Pratapgarhi (@ShayarImran) December 31, 2022
4,365 encroachments on railway lands?
To know the extent of encroachment on railway lands, the state government and the railways jointly conducted a joint survey. A survey conducted in 2017 revealed that there are 4,365 encroachments on Indian Railways lands. According to the report of the Ministry of Railways released on March 31, 2019, 4.78 lakh hectares of land is available near the Indian Railways. In this, 821.46 hectares of land is occupied by encroachers.
It has been said in the report of the ministry that to remove the encroachment, the railway survey is done at the local level. During the survey, slums, huts and illegal encroachments coming under the purview of railway land are removed with the help of Railway Protection Force and local administration.
For old encroachments, where one party is not responsible, action is taken under the Public Premises Act, 1971. Unauthorized occupants are evicted with the help of state government and police.
What happened in the Gujarat-Haryana encroachment case?
Haldwani’s case has now reached the Supreme Court and hearing will be held on 5th January. A similar matter had reached the Supreme Court in 2021. In that case, the Supreme Court had expressed displeasure over the encroachment on railway land in Haryana and Gujarat.
The court had said, the constitution is equal for all, even if a person is living below the poverty line. Everyone has to follow the law. The apex court said, government projects are getting stuck due to encroachment. It may be the political compulsion of the officers, but the tax payers money is going down the drain.In this case too, the officials were told to make a plan every year to increase the project and remove the encroachment.
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