"All Major Cities Have Turned Into Slums": Supreme Court On Encroachments

The Supreme Court said, "Railways cannot be let off the hook of their responsibility. It is not just the state government's responsibility... The time has come for the corporations to take the responsibility of removing the encroachment"

The Indian Railways has to take responsibility for encroachments that have come upon its land and take strict action against them, the Supreme Court said today, refusing to allow 5000 hutments to continue in Gujarat. "All major cities have turned into slums… This is a sad story going on for 75 years," said a three-judge bench, turning down an appeal from the slum dwellers to stop the demolition.

"Look at any city, Chandigarh might be an exception but there are problems in Chandigarh as well. That is happening everywhere. Let us rise to reality and think how the problem has to be resolved," said Justice AM Khanwilkar, who was on the bench along with Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and CT Ravikumar.

Directing the Railways to initiate criminal action against unauthorised occupants immediately, the court said, "Railways cannot be let off the hook of their responsibility. It is not just the state government's responsibility... The time has come for the corporations to take the responsibility of removing the encroachment". The court said it would also review the action taken.

The Railways have also been asked to take action against officials who allowed the encroachments to take place.