ENCROACHMENT OF PUBLIC LAND A MAJOR CHALLENGE FOR DELHI

Delhi is increasingly witnessing the problem of encroachment at public roads, water bodies and railway lands which had forced the government to move courts for eviction and is a major challenge for the capital.

“The Supreme Court had time and again intervened on the encroachment issue and had asked Delhi police, Municipal corporation and other law enforcement authorities to proceed with the eviction of unauthorised settlements and encroachments, but nothing concrete is happening. Out of the 600 water bodies where survey has been done, more than 400 are encroached. It is a very dangerous thing for the ecosystem. Other public lands like Railways land, MCD land etc are also encroached; hence it is important to have an integrated plan of action involving all the authorities and government agencies to evict the violators,” Ved Prakash Choubey, an environmental activist based in New Delhi said.

Recently, the Supreme Court also showed frustration in a hearing in which the Railways asked for remedy for illegal encroachment on its land in Delhi region. “The Supreme Court asked us to immediately issue notices to occupants of illegal structures and give them two weeks to vacate the premises. But, you can see we have to approach the apex court for the issue. The government authorities were not cooperating with us. Due to encroachment, railways’ modernization activities also get disturbed. With increasing population, the railways also needs to modernize itself, but due to encroachment, we are having hindrance,” a senior railway official of Northern Railways based in New Delhi said.

“You go to any colony of Delhi, there is some encroachment issue. Even in Vasant Vihar, there were cases of encroachment. Just to blame the MCD is not right, the common people also need to understand that encroachment or illegal settlement is wrong and they should not indulge in it,” said Karan Rajveer Singh, a former councilor from North Delhi Municipal Corporation.