“Will proceed as per court’s order,” Uttarakhand CM after SC stays Haldwani eviction

Haldwani (Uttarakhand): Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Thursday said that the government would proceed according to the Supreme Court’s order staying a December 20 direction of the Uttarakhand High Court which had directed eviction of thousands of families occupying railway land in Haldwani district within a week.

“We’ve said earlier also that it is a railway land. We will proceed as per the court’s order,” said Dhami today reacting to apex court’s putting a stay on the High Court’s order to remove encroachments from railway land in Haldwani’s Banbhoolpura area.

The apex court issued a notice to the Uttarakhand government and India Railways on the pleas challenging the Uttarakhand High Court’s decision.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Abhay S Oka issued notices to the Indian Railways and Uttarakhand government on the pleas.

“There cannot be uprooting of 50,000 people overnight,” said the bench, adding that there has to be segregation of people who have no right on the land and the need to rehabilitation while recognising the need of railways.

Noting that people are living there for decades, the bench said there should be measures for rehabilitation since the issue involves a human angle.

Posting the case for hearing on February 7, the bench said that it has put to the Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati that full rehabilitation of the persons in the area is needed.

Earlier on January 4, Advocate Prashant Bhushan mentioned the plea before the top court saying, more than 5,000 houses in Haldwani are being demolished.

The Uttarakhand High Court had on December 20 ordered the removal of encroachments from railway land in the Banbhoolpura area of Haldwani after giving notice to the residents one week in advance.

Led by Congress MLA from Haldwani, Sumit Hridayesh, residents of the area approached the Supreme Court on Monday challenging the High Court’s order.

A total of 4,365 encroachments will be removed from the area. Those facing eviction have been living on the land for many decades.

Residents have been protesting against the removal of encroachments from railway land in compliance with a High Court order.