The recent High Court order directing the State Government to remove encroachments from riverbanks and lakesides in three months may create some issues for the State Government and some political issues for the Bharatiya Janata Party striving to mark an impressive victory in the urban local body elections in the state.
The BJP State president Ajay Bhatt said that the state Government should either file a review petition in the high court or approach the supreme court on this issue.
Earlier this month in a PIL, the high court had directed the chief secretary to ensure removal of encroachments from the banks of rivers, mountain streams and lakes within three months.
Execution of this order would also entail removal of a considerable number of slum settlements to free land encroached along rivers.
While stating that the high court orders are respected, the BJP state president pointed out that across the state there are towns established on the banks of various rivers. Even prominent towns like Srinagar, Bageshwar, Rishikesh and Haridwar among others are on the banks of major rivers. “How is it possible to displace such settlements which were established more than 100 years ago? Our government should either file a review petition in the high court or approach the supreme court in this matter,” said Bhatt.
It will be recalled that earlier this year during July, the state cabinet had approved the Uttarakhand urban local bodies and authorities special provision ordinance- 2018 to save the slum dwellers from execution of an order issued by the high court.
The High Court had earlier ordered removal of encroachments from along the banks of rivers, after which in the provisional state capital the municipal corporation of Dehradun had issued eviction notices to a number of slums dwellers found encroaching on the banks of Rispana and Bindal rivers.
However, the ordinance promulgated by the state provided a three-year relief to the slum dwellers from eviction during which the Government is to arrange for their resettlement.