“Thousands cannot be resettled...”:
Uttarakhand's eviction has been stayed by the Supreme Court.
Delhi, India:
The Supreme Court on Thursday halted an eviction drive at a railway site in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, saving thousands of people from homelessness in the harsh winter of northern India.
“We cannot eradicate thousands of people overnight...This is a human problem and we must find a workable solution,” says the Supreme Court, lingering in Uttarakhand Suspending a Uttarakhand High Court order allowing the eviction of about 50,000 people living after the lawsuit, about 4,000 households.
Additionally, the court called on the railway and the Uttarakhand government to take action and halt all construction in the area.
A day after attorney and activist Prashant Bhushan made a formal request, Supreme Court Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and judges SA Nazeer and PS Narasimha decided to file a lawsuit. Residents who have held candlelight marches, sit-ins and prayers to stop evictions are greatly relieved by this order.
The area covers his 2 km stretch of land in the Bumblepura district near Haldwani railway station which includes Gafur Basti, Drak Basti and Indiranagar.
The area has 4 public schools, 11 private schools, a bank, 2 flood tanks, 10 mosques, 4 temples, and some shops built over the decades. Nearly half of families say they have a rental agreement.
In 2013, a petition alleging illegal sand mining in a nearby river brought the matter to court. Following the court's Dec. 20 order, after a lengthy legal battle, the county government published a notice in newspapers ordering individuals to remove their belongings by Jan. 9.
Politicians and activists also took part in the demonstration, and he accused the BJP government of taking action against the Muslim-majority neighbourhood.
At his residence in the provincial capital, Dehradun, the Speaker of the Senior Parliament and former Prime Minister Harish Rawat took an hour-long Maung Vrat or vow of silence.
"It is a very sad sight to see 50,000 people, including children, pregnant women and the elderly, forced to flee their homes and take to the streets," he said. “Uttarakhand is a spiritual state.”
