Two days after the Uttarakhand high court directed the authorities to evict forthwith the unauthorised occupants to vacate the premises from the railway land adjoining Haldwani Railway Station, the authorities conducted a demarcation survey.
Railway officials carried out the survey with heavy force following protests by the locals.
Following the survey on 78 acres of railway land, a total of 4365 homes were found to be illegally occupying railway land in the Banbhoolpura area of Haldwani.
On the direction of Uttarakhand HC, police, local administration, and the Assistant Divisional Railway Manager (ADRM) have given people one week’s notice to vacate the place.
The process to inform the residents about the removal of encroachments and demarcation of the encroached area by putting up pillars around it started today, Additional Divisional Railway Manager (ADRM) Vivek Gupta said.
Thousands of people living in the encroachment area staged a peaceful protest outside the Banbhoolpura police station and demanded rehabilitation. Local MLA Sumit Hridayesh and other leaders were also present to support the protest.
ADM Ashok Joshi said, “The process to remove encroachments on railway land has been initiated following the directions of the High Court. We will begin with the demarcation and issuance of notices in the next one or two days. The encroachment drive will be carried out one week later.”
“Heavy police force has been deployed at all places and drones and video cameras will also be kept under surveillance during the encroachment,” Superintendent of Police (Crime) Jagdish Chandra said.