In a relief to 4,000 families facing imminent threat of demolition of their houses in a bitterly cold winter, the Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the Uttarakhand high court order for removal of encroachments from 29 acres of land claimed by the railways in Haldwani, terming it a 'human issue' and saying 50,000 people cannot be uprooted overnight.
According to the railways, there are 4,365 encroachers on the land, while the occupants are holding protests at Haldwani asserting they are its rightful owners.
Many of the occupants claims that they have been residing there for over 50 years, a bench of Justices S K Kaul and A S Oka noted there is a 'human angle' to the problem and the authorities have to find a 'practical way out'.
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