The recent steps taken by the State Government towards regularisation of slum settlements and according ownership rights to residents contradict past statements of Chief Mnister Harish Rawat, while also exacerbating scope of environmental destruction and threat to dwellers in such slums on and along the Rispana and Bindal rivers in Dehradun in case of a cloudburst above the foothills of Mussoorie.
Releasing a video clip of past statements of the Chief Mnister regarding slums and the two rivers, a local student activist group is observing the Government’s action and may approach the court of law against regularisation of slums encroaching on riverbeds in Dehradun which they state is in blatant violation of judgments passed in the past by the Supreme Court and High Court.
The Chief Minister had on Sunday said that residents of slum settlements will be presented the official documents regarding their home ownership rights in the near future. Members of Making a Difference by Being the Difference (MAD) which has campaigned consistently for revival of Rispana and Bindal rivers in Dehradun said that they are waiting to see categorisation of such slums by the district magistrate. "Any attempt to regularise encroachment on the river beds at the cost of the health of the rivers and safety of the residents, will be strongly opposed, if need be even legally- by taking recourse to the National Green Tribunal or the Uttarakhand High Court,” said the group's founding member Abhijay Negi while addressing the media. Citing the video clip he said, “In this context the CM had said that rehabilitation of slum dwellers from riverbeds was essential in their own interests as they would be worst affected by flood in case of cloudburst in the foothills of Mussoorie. He had also said that homes would be facilitated to rehabilitate 4,000 such slum dwellers in a manner which would benefit them and also help revive the rivers. The CM has provided considerable encouragement to us and the issues we raised.
It was during his tenure as union minister that Rawat had facilitated a study on condition of these rivers by National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee, and during his ongoing term as CM too he has encouraged us to undertake plantations around the upper catchment area of the two rivers.
However, we will not allow destruction of the Rispana and Bindal to boost vote-banks,” he said, adding that they also plan to meet Rawat and show him the nine minute clip of his past statements, which has also been uploaded on Youtube.