Uttarkashi Traders Protest Over Alleged Harassment On Pretext Of Anti-Encroachment Drive

Uttarkashi: Traders in Uttarkashi on Friday held a protest against the Uttarakhand government over alleged harassment of people in disaster-hit areas here in the name of an anti-encroachment drive.
A group of traders burnt an effigy of the state government at the bus stand here and walked towards the collectorate while raising slogans.
They submitted a memorandum addressed to Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami to the District Magistrate demanding an immediate halt on the “harassment”.
Identification of encroached land and removal of encroachments from national and state highways, link roads and forest land in the district is being carried out vigorously as part of the drive.
“This is affecting lakhs of people who are already battling the effects of rain-related disasters that hit various parts of the district earlier this month. People feel insecure. They expect relief from the state government,” Uttarkashi Vyapar Mandal President Subhash Badoni said.
The Vyapar Mandal has no objection to removal of encroachments from national and state highways but the rest of the areas where people live should be spared, he said.
Suggesting a way out, he said structures on government or forest land should be sold at government rate to the people living in them.
“It will not only generate revenue for the government but also rid people of their sense of insecurity,” he said. Large encroachments in the plain areas are being overlooked and the structures built by the poor in hill areas are being demolished, the protesters alleged. —PTI