Explained: why 4,000 families have taken to the streets in Uttarakhand's Haldwani

Members from over 4,000 families of Banbhoolpura area of Uttarakhand's Haldwani have taken to the streets since December 28 to protest against the demolition order of their homes.

A December 20 order of the Uttarakhand High Court stated that the land next to the railway lines where the families live has been encroached and it actually belongs to the Indian Railways.

Local authorities were directed by the court to have the land vacated. The families were given a week's time to pack up and move or their houses would be demolished and the cost of the same would be recovered from them.

For the past week, residents of the 'encroached' land, have been protesting against the order saying that they will be homeless and their children will have no educational institutes to go to.

The protestors are mostly women from these families, sitting it out in the biting cold, demanding their rights.

The 'encroached' land, spread over 29 acres, is home to slum dwellings, 3 government schools, 11 private schools, 10 mosques, 12 madrassas, 1 government public health centre (PHC) and 1 temple.

Jamaat-e-Islami Hind issued a statement claiming that the Railways has served eviction notices to people living in 78 acres of land while the disputed land is only 29 acres. It added that the HC order will affect over 50,000 people living in the area.

The Indian Express reported that the Railways claims to have old maps, a notification dating back to 1959, revenue records from 1971 and results of a 2017 survey that will prove their ownership of the land while the protesting families claim that they have been living there for more than 70 years.

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Residents who spoke to news agency ANI said that the land does not belong to the railways. It belongs to the central government which was given to them and that they have the papers to prove the same.

One said, 'During the partition, when people left for Pakistan, the land that was left behind, the union government auctioned it off and this area too is one of the auctioned areas.'

While another one said,' My family has been living her for more than 100 years, the railway line is 30 kms away and it is the railways rather, who has been moving closer to our homes.'

"They have been living in the area for 70 years. There is a mosque, temple, overhead water tank, a PHC, a sewer line laid in 1970, two inter colleges, and a primary school," Nizamuddin, a former Congress MLA from Manglaur, said.

"We appeal to the prime minister, the railway ministry and the chief minister to take a humane view of the matter and stop the removal of so-called encroachments," he said.

Meanwhile, former Uttarakhand chief minister and Congress leader Harish Rawat went on an hour-long fast in support of the families that will be affected by the demolition.

Criticising the evacuation order, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said, 'How can it be an encroachment when there are government inter-colleges in the area?'

Led by Congress MLA from Haldwani Sumit Hridayesh, residents of the area have moved the Supreme Court challenging the Uttarakhand High Court's order. The matter will be heard by the SC on January 5.

with PTI inputs