Supreme Court orders Bambhoolpura, Haldwani illegal residents to vacate Railway land , will affect more than 50000 residents

The Supreme Court today in its ruling said that the residents of Banbhoolpura, in Haldwani , district Nainital will have to finally vacate the land belonging to the Railways on which they are living for several decades. It may be recalled that the railways tried to evict these illegally living residents from this area several times but couldn’t be removed finally the aggrieved  residents approaching the Supreme Court for relief.

This decision of the apex court comprising of three judge bench viz CJI Surya Kant, Justice Deepankar Dutta and Ujjwal Bhuyan is indeed a shocking one for over fifty thousand residents of Banbhoolpura who have been living here  for several decades and were expecting relief from the SC. The three judge bench directed the authorities , the area DM to hold a camp in the area and identify the deserving families who can be rehabilitated directing authorities to do needful at the earliest.

The court said that the residents have no right to live illegally on the railway land and cannot dictate terms to the railway authorities regarding the infrastucture development. In the month of December 22 the residents were granted stay till January 2023   by the apex court. Majority of the residents at Bambhoolpura hail from minority community and have been staying here since several decades.

The Uttarakhand High Court has issued orders for the removal of the unauthorised structures  in 2022 creating quite a tense situation with the affected residents approaching the apex court which granted that stay till January 23. The residents claimed  that they have all the electricity, water connections provided by the government including all the necessary proofs.

The railways claim that the illegal encroachment took place two decades ago but the residents claimed that they are living here since the independence , some say even since hundred years.

In the year 2007 the Uttarakhand High  court had first issued directives for freeing this land from illegal encroachers . The issue reoccured in 2013 through a Public Interest Litigation regarding the illegal mining leading to the 2016 court directive to clear the land of illegal encroachments.

The railways has a thirty acres of land in Banbhoolpura and wants to built a project for which the state government is also ready to sanction the extra land and the necessary support.