Haldwani (Uttarakhand): Thousands of people staged protest against the Uttarakhand High Court's order to demolish as many as 4,365 buildings over 78 acres of encroached Railway land at Banbhoolpura in Haldwani. The protestors were supported by Congress MLA Sumit Hridayesh, Samajwad Party in-charge Abdul Matin Siddiqui and general secretary Shoaib Ahmed and other leaders.
The protestors said that if their houses are demolished, they will not have a roof above their head. They claimed that in the last few decades, thousands of families have settled here. The Railway administration on Wednesday started the demolition work in the Vanbhulpura area.
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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 on an area spread over 78 acres of encroached Railway land in Banbhoolpura.
On November 9, 2016, the High Court had 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.
