Imran, his wife and three children have been living on the roadside after their house, along with 134 others marked “illegal encroachment on government land”, was recently reduced to rubble by bulldozers. “It is better to sell them (house rubble) and get some money before authorities take that too. We lost our houses and need money to survive. Our children are falling ill after living in the open for days. But, selling the debris doesn’t mean we’re going to leave. It’s our land and we have nowhere else to go,” said Farooq Miyan, another resident.
Echoing similar sentiments, Mansoor Ali, another affected dweller, pointed out, “Over 500 people are living in tents by the roadside. Children have stopped going to school. We have no alternative arrangement in place. The SC must take note of our situation.” Incidentally, the SC on Wednesday ordered to “maintain status quo” concerning demolition drive which local residents claimed was of “no use now” as their dwellings had been already pulled down by the authorities.
The Railways, however, claimed that multiple notices were issued to “135 encroachers” before initiating the demolition. “We’re converting the 21-km Mathura-Vrindavan stretch from narrow to broad gauge. A high-speed rail corridor has been proposed for trains like Vande Bharat. Hence, this land is required,” said Prashasti Srivastava, PRO, Agra railway division.
60 houses were razed on August 9, and the remaining 75 on August 14.Residents had earlier filed a petition in civil court against the Railways’ notice on land ownership