The Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) demolished shanties built on its land along the Haridwar bypass road on the weekend.
The deputy municipal commissioner Rohitash Sharma said that the demolition was carried out after complaints about the encroachments were received.
Similar actions would be taken by the MCD in the future too, he said.
However, observers point out that scores of acres of land comprising the riverbed and river banks have been encroached upon in Dehradun. Considering this, removing only a few shanties occasionally will have little effect on the overall encroachment.
“We removed around 150 people who were encroaching illegally on municipal land along the river for quite some time near Haridwar bypass.
We had recently received a complaint about the encroachment on the land and acted swiftly in response,” he added.According to the deputy municipal commissioner the MCD will continue taking action against the encroachment in the city.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Rispana and Bindal rivers along with numerous nalas and other water bodies in the city have been encroached upon for quite some time. This problem is rampant in the entire Dehradun valley.
In the recent past, in a public interest litigation filed in the high court by a councillor against encroachments and illegal construction in ravines and nalas in Rajpur area, the Dehradun district magistrate had submitted an affidavit stating that about 270 acres of riverbed and bank area has been encroached upon in the Dehradun valley.
In its report submitted in the court, the Government had also averred that the encroachers are being identified and removed.
Objecting to this, the counsel for the petitioner had alleged that in the name of anti-encroachment drive the poor are being targeted while encroachments by the influential persons are not being touched.
In the course of the hearing, the Dehradun district magistrate submitted an affidavit stating that 270 acres of river land has been encroached upon in the Doon valley.
This includes about 100 acres encroached in Dehradun, 140 acres in Vikasnagar, 15 acres in Rishikesh and 15 acres in Doiwala.
Responding to this, the petitioner had stated that the area encroached upon is as big as 205 football fields.
If the Government data shows that such a large area has been encroached upon, the reality could be much worse.
Observers point out that despite the paucity of land for public use, authorities have consistently failed to both prevent encroachments and remove ones already made.
