The issue of Uttarakhand High Court-ordered demolition drive rocked the State Assembly on Wednesday with the Opposition Congress members attacking the State Government for razing down houses of thousands of people.
As soon as the House assembled on the day, senior Congress leader Pritam Singh demanded discussion under section 310 on the very important issue. He said that thousands of people have become homeless thanks to the demolition drive. Angry Congress MLAs stormed into the well of the House and protested vociferously against the Urban Development Minister Madan Kaushik’s statement that the demolition being conducted on the order of the court should not be a matter of discussion in the House. The Speaker Prem Chand Agarwal later ruled that the discussion under section 58 would be held on the issue.
In the post-lunch session, the Leader of Opposition Indira Hridayesh launched a scathing attack on the Government and held it responsible for a situation where homes of people in Dehradun, Haridwar and Rudrapur are being demolished ruthlessly. She said that the Government should have found a way to save these people on the same line it stepped in to save the slum dwellers.
Participating in the discussion, Congress MLA Pritam Singh said that in Dehradun and other areas, the officers are using old maps of 1904 and 1938 to demolish houses in which people have been dwelling for many years.
He said that such demolition drive is unparalleled and demanded the Government to bring in an ordinance to prevent houses of a large number of people from being razed down in the name of the drive. Congress MLA Govind Singh Kunjwal echoed the same sentiment and said that the State Government is acting in a dictatorial manner on the sensitive matter.
In his reply, the Urban Development Minister Madan Kaushik said that the State Government had moved Supreme Court against the order of the Uttarakhand High Court. But the apex court had refused to intervene on the order, he added. He, however, assured in the same breath that the demolition drive would remain confined to the major roads only.
