Taking a stern note of encroachments in the rivers, ravines and nullahs in the Dehradun valley, the high court of Uttarakhand has directed the Dehradun district magistrate to submit a detailed report within two weeks. The case will be taken up for hearing next on September 16. The division bench of chief justice Ramesh Ranganathan and justice Alok Kumar Verma expressed displeasure while stating that three months into the case, no reply had been filed by either the Union Government or the State Government.
Dehradun resident councillor Urmila Thapa had filed a public interest litigation in the high court stating that people had encroached along the Rispana, Bindal rivers and ravines in Dehradun. This encroachment had resulted in a flood-like situation in various inhabited areas. The petitioner had also stated that people had axed thousands of green trees from areas along the rivers which will pose a major threat to the locals in the coming times.
It is pertinent to mention here that the channels of both the Rispana and Bindal rivers have been narrowed down considerably due to encroachments for residential and commercial purposes. The State government has so far failed to take any effective steps against such encroachments even as a number of government buildings were also constructed along the rivers.
