The Uttarakhand government decided to go ahead with the demolition of illegal construction over a piece of land belonging to Railways in the Banbhalphur area of Uttarakhand’s Haldwani.
A total of 4,365 houses, built illegally over 78 acres of Railway land in Gafoor Basti of the Banbhulpura area, will face demolition. The action is being taken following the orders of the Uttarakhand High Court, against which demonstrations were also held by the locals in protest.
Railway’s Izzatnagar Division ADRM Vivek Gupta informed that the action to remove encroachment will be carried out soon.
He said, “After discussions, we have finalised the further process for the removal of encroachment on the railway land. The railway department will take support from the administration for the action.”
Kumaon Commissioner Deepak Rawat said that Railways has been given consent to take possession of their land as per the directions of the High Court. He said, “Hon’ble High Court has given orders that the administration needs to comply with in a timely manner. Further proceedings have been discussed and the obligations will be fulfilled following the due procedure.”
SSP Pankaj Bhatt informed the media about the security arrangements ahead of the anti-encroachment drive. He said, “Factoring in the sensitivity of the situation, elaborate security arrangements will be made.”
“4,500 security personnel will be deployed in the area two days ahead of the scheduled date of the anti-encroachment drive. A total of 10 drones and 20 video cameras will be utilised to monitor the situation and record the proceedings,” Bhatt said.
Mohsin, a local, said that the government should be considerate of people’s lives. She said, “Nobody has even given a thought about the poor people residing here. A huge number of people are going to lose their homes this winter. Where are they going to go? I’ve seen such things only in BJP rule.”
Earlier, hundreds of people expressed their resentment over the court’s decision by taking out a candle march. They had urged the government not to remove the encroachment and had requested that they be rehabilitated. In view of the security situation, a heavy police force was deployed in Banbhulpura, where the candle march was taken out by the protestors.