By Majid Nabi
Srinagar- People living along Doodh Ganga Nallah stretch at Chattabal, Monday staged a protest to press for their rehabilitation before being evicted. The protestors claimed that they have been living there since 1971 and the government must refrain from taking any harsh measure in ‘haste’.
Chanting slogans “we want justice, don’t force us to live under open sky and wake up LG administration”, dozens of the residents, mostly women, living on or along Doodh Ganga this afternoon staged a protest to press for their rehabilitation. They also alleged that the administration served eviction notices to them via mobile phones.
Pertinently, Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) last week served eviction notices to all encroachers, asking them to remove illegal structures on their own within seven days, failing which necessary actions shall be initiated against them.
They appealed to the Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha to adopt its assurances with poor masses on the ground and impress upon the authorities to refrain from harassing those having built their residential structures on small patches of state land.
The protesting residents also appealed to the government to ensure their rehabilitation before removing them.
“We received eviction notices last week via mobile asking us to remove all residential structures within a week’s time. We will surely vacate, but at least provide us an alternative, so that our families are not forced to live under open sky,” Hajra, a protester, told the media.
She said the residents have been asked to remove their structures. The locality comprises of poor people. We appeal to the administration to rehabilitate us.
The protestors also urged the administration to give them some time so that they could relocate their belongings to some other place. “When 2014 floods hit the valley, the government did not ask us to vacate but extended relief. Now how far is this genuine to render us homeless” they questioned the administration.
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