Supreme Court Demands Rehabilitation Plan for Haldwani Railway Land Evictees

The Supreme Court has directed the Centre and Uttarakhand government to create a rehabilitation scheme for residents evicted from railway land in Haldwani. Authorities need to identify affected land and families within four weeks. The case will be heard again on September 11.

The Supreme Court demanded on Wednesday that the Centre and Uttarakhand government formulate a rehabilitation plan for residents ordered to vacate railway land in Haldwani. A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta, and Ujjal Bhuyan instructed railway authorities and government officials to pinpoint the land needed for railway track expansion and identify the families that will be affected. The court has set a four-week deadline for this task and scheduled the next hearing for September 11.

"As the first initiative, let the land which is required immediately be identified with full description. Similarly, the families who are likely to be affected in the event of taking possession of that land should also be immediately identified," stated the bench. The Supreme Court was reviewing a railway application to lift a stay on the eviction of encroachments to protect the railway tracks and the Haldwani railway station.

During the session, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati urged the bench to vacate the stay, citing that several railway expansion plans had been hindered by the lack of accessible land. Bhati noted that Haldwani serves as the last station before the Kumaon region and is crucial as a gateway to the hills.

The bench observed that around 30.04 hectares of railway land have been encroached upon, with 4,365 houses and more than 50,000 residents on the site. The railways emphasized the urgent need for portions of this land to relocate a defunct railway line and establish other essential infrastructure.

As the ASG requested the stay be vacated, the bench remarked, "Assuming they are encroachers, the ultimate question is whether they are all human beings. They have lived there for decades. These are all pucca houses. Courts can't be ruthless, but they cannot also encourage encroachment. The state must take responsibility as these conditions have developed over decades, possibly even before independence." In 2023, residents approached the apex court against an Uttarakhand High Court order to remove unauthorized occupants near the Haldwani railway station.

On December 20, the Uttarakhand High Court mandated the removal of encroachments from railway land in Haldwani's Banbhoolpura area after notifying occupants one week in advance. A total of 4,365 encroachments were to be cleared. Residents, some of whom have lived on the land for many decades, protested against the court-ordered eviction.

The petitioners, described as poor lawful residents of Mohalla Nai Basti in Haldwani, argued that they have been residing there for over 70 years. Their names appear in municipal records for house tax and they have been paying these taxes for years. The petition noted that the state and its agencies had recognized the long-standing physical possession of the residents and their ancestors, granting them gas and water connections and Aadhaar cards with their residential addresses.

(With inputs from agencies.)