Khori village demolish: Sad story of poor people

Background:

It all started when the land mafia has settled people here in collaboration with the forest department and the police administration. The forest department’s land was sold fraudulently, and people were allowed to build their homes, residents. They mainly target the poor and uneducated people who had a dream to build a house. No legal paper given to the people of khori village, some fake paper of power of attorney and notarized agreement gave it to them.

There is a government-run primary school in this village which has been in operation since 1996.  The school has 84 students and a majority of them are from Khori village. Khori village, which is in the eye of the storm, was gradually populated over the years when people from the states like Bihar, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and other parts of Haryana migrated to the area to work as mine labourers in the 1980s when the mining of minerals was rampant in the Aravallis.

Supreme Court order:

The Indian Forest Act, 1927, bars any construction within the forest zone and the Khori village lies in the forest zone of the Aravalli forests which are spread over 448 square kilometres in Faridabad, Gurgaon and Mewat districts of Haryana. Last month on June 7, the Supreme Court ordered the municipal corporation to conduct a demolition drive to clear the area.

The process would involve the demolition of some 10,000 houses built in the Lakkarpur-Khori village area. The onus of compliance for the same has been put on the civic body commissioners and the forest secretary of Haryana.

While the SC bench was approached by the occupants of Khori Gaon to seek rehabilitation before the houses were demolished, the Court refused such requests, terming the petitioners as \’land grabbers\’. Appealing on behalf of the petitioners, prominent human rights activist and Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves has pleaded for mercy and for an extension to a Haryana government rehabilitation policy cut-off which could see the residents of the 25-year-old village rehabilitated.

Conclusion:

When Supreme Court order passed it hit hard to poor people during the covid-19 pandemic situation. A 70-year-old resident of Faridabad’s Khori village died by suicide on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday (15 or 16 june 2021). His relatives have alleged he took the step due to extreme stress over the impending demolition of structures in the village, including his home, as per the directions of the Supreme Court. An FIR has been registered at the Surajkund police station against the property dealer who sold them government land fraudulently,” said Sube Singh, PRO of Faridabad Police.

Fir had register against the property dealer/ Land mafia, but what about local police, forest department authority and electricity department. They all work as a syndicate to loot the poor people money. Without all of them how electricity supply and construction work going on for 25 years in Khori Village. Poor people put their life saving to build their home. There should be proper rehabilitation before the houses were demolished. Haryana government came forward to rehabilitation of Haryana people only what about the others.

Poor people stuck between illegal possession, environment protection law and land mafia. It a system fault, by system I means local police, forest department authority and electricity department. They should punish too.