Haldwani settlers get a reprieve!

The Apex Court has ordered halting an eviction drive on railway land in Uttarakhand's
Haldwani that comes as a huge relief to those affected who have settled on the illegally
encroached state land.
The Supreme Court stated that 50,000 people cannot be uprooted overnight… It termed
the issue a human problem and thus asked for a workable solution to be found." The Court
observed that it would have been extremely difficult for those people to be suddenly
evicted. The court has also barred any further construction in the area and has requested
responses from the Railways and the Uttarakhand Government.
Both will respond; ideally, the response should apply to all Railway and state government
lands that have been illegally occupied, not just only in the current case of encroachments.
In fact, the Central Government should devise some sort of mechanism (1) to evacuate all
such land and (2) ensure that no future encroachments occur. Is that the "workable
solution" that the Supreme Court prefers? Is it conceivable?
But the current state of affairs does not allow for it; the situation in Haldwani and the
various reactions to it explain why. Houses, schools (including four government schools),
water tanks, mosques, temples, shops, and other amenities can be found along a 2-
kilometer stretch of land near the Haldwani railway station. All of this accumulated over a
long time under the nose of government officials who did not act to stop illegal
encroachment. The colony was discovered in 2013 during an investigation into illegal sand
mining in a nearby river. The case was heard by the High Court, which ordered eviction
and even suggested using paramilitary force for the purpose.
Typically, the issue has become entangled in politics. Activists and Congress leaders,
during whose rule the settlement came up unhindered,  are blaming the state's BJP
government for the eviction because the majority of residents in the area are Muslim.
Harish Rawat, a senior Congress leader and former chief minister reiterated the party's
long held line that, "It would be a very sad sight if 50,000 people, including children,
pregnant women, elderly men and women, were forced to leave their homes and come out
on the roads."
Now that the eviction has been halted by the Supreme Court, what does he or his party
have to offer in terms of a workable solution? Such are the dangers of a polity in which
sentiments rule supreme and reason has been banished. Encroachment is a major issue
that causes environmental degradation (as in the case of Haldwani), urban decay,
corruption, and waste of national resources. Worse, it is not just illegal occupation of
government and public land that contributes to the ugliness of the countryside, towns, and
cities; there is also the issue of 'plotting,' which is the unauthorised conversion of land
(mostly agricultural land) into habitations. A comprehensive policy involving major political
parties and other stakeholders is urgently needed over the burning issue of illegal colonies.
Our political leaders must lead such an effort, but they are too preoccupied with fighting
each other. People in this country know well that under the polluted polity of this country,
they are free to grab any state or forest land and the politicians would come to their rescue
for vote banks. How far this will go on is a question to be pondered over objectively!