HC restrains railways from razing 1,000 houses in Faridabad

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court has restrained the Railways from dispossession of residents and demolition of 1,000 odd houses in Sant Nagar locality of Faridabad.

The high court bench of Justice GS Sandhawalia acted on the plea of Chandan Singh and 195 others, the residents who had approached the court challenging August 14 notices of railway administration affixed on houses and in the colony about demolition to be carried out on August 22. While restraining against demolition and dispossession of residents, the HC has sought response from Haryana, Railways and Centre by September 7.

Their counsel Vaibhav Jain said the notices were the result of an order passed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in October 2018 directing the Railways to form a special task force (STF) to remove occupation from the railway land.

Sant Nagar Colony is an identified slum and in existence since 60s. In 2016, the area was selected to be developed as a ‘Smart Slum’ and ₹12 crore was allotted by Faridabad Smart City Limited for the development of area, Jain said, adding that the development works regarding water supply, sewerage, drainage, road improvement, community toilet, landscaping, and smart solar LED streetlights were started in 2018 and currently underway. The colony has a population of approximately 2,500, he said.

The court was told that the ‘cryptic’ notice affixed in the locality does not mention a date or any issuing authority. Furthermore, the petitioners were never granted personal hearing which is in total violation of principle of natural justice.

Petitioners have not been told as to how they are in unauthorised occupation since they have electricity and sewerage connections, and the land belongs to various authorities apart from the Railways.