Tuesday, 03 January 2023 | PNS | Dehradun
Regarding the action being taken to evict encroachers from railway land in Haldwani on the directions of the Uttarakhand High Court, the Bharatiya Janata Party has stated that the government is bound to follow the orders of the court. Responding to the statements made by Congress leaders on the issues, the party’s State spokesman Suresh Joshi said that those who have encroached on the railway land had settled there some decades ago when the Congress was in power. The Congress should have done the needful at that time instead of allowing the problem to exacerbate to the detriment of those it is now claiming to be concerned about.
Joshi said, “The case had also gone to the Supreme Court which had directed that the matter be disposed of by the High Court. The railway was also trying to remove encroachers for a long time from its land. Regarding the allegations being leveled now by some Congress leaders, they should recall that all land disputes in Haldwani date back to Congress regime including the issue of the railway land. The people settled on the railways land three to four decades ago- whose government was in office then? If something wrong was happening at that time why didn’t the government of the time find a middle path and facilitate lands for them? The stand of our government is clear- we are following the High Court orders and not viewing the issue politically. The Congress is trying to make this a political issue and even if it is so it is the failure of the Congress,” he said.
It will be recalled that as per the Uttarakhand High Court orders, encroachers on the 2.2 kilometre stretch of railways land in Haldwani are being served a one week notice to vacate the land, failing which the encroachments will be demolished. Observers opine that the 4,000 plus families in the area are also considered to be a considerable vote bank especially for the party which is now in opposition.
