Dehradun: A group of civil society activists accompanied by opposition party leaders on Thursday submitted 2,256 letters to chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat’s office urging the government to not demolish the slums near Rispana river under the ongoing anti-encroachment drive in the city.The group also demanded that the government must bring an amendment to stop the demolition in slums. “In 2016, the then Congress government had come up with a plan to give lands to slum dwellers, but the BJP government did not act on it. After that the PM declared the ‘housing for all’ scheme under which over 30,000 homes were to be built for slum dwellers in the state but not a single has since been built. On top of that, now they are demolishing their homes,” alleged Trepan Singh Chauhan of NGO Chetna Andolan, which is leading the initiative.He added that a similar drive was ordered in Delhi in 2006 by the Supreme Court but an ordinance was introduced to protect the slum dwellers. “A similar situation arose in Delhi but then the government brought Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act 2006, and the court did not rule against it. Uttarakhand government too can bring an ordinance on the same lines. But they must have the will to do it.”Resident Fairaz Khan, who also signed a petition, said that more than three lakh people live on the riverbeds of Rispana and Bindal rivers. “They have been living here for decades and if their homes are demolished where will they go? First, the government let these slums grow as it is their vote bank and later they demolish their homes.”State urban development minister and government spokesperson, Madan Kaushik, said, “The government is preparing a strategy to rehabilitate the slum dwellers and is also in the process to approach the high court to push the demolishing deadline so that we get more time to rehabilitate them.”

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