New Delhi, Aug 28 (IANS) A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court by residents of Khori village in Haryana’s Faridabad, highlighting the deplorable conditions at temporary shelter facility set up for those whose houses have been demolished, and families have been “reduced to a bare animal existence and there no partition for privacy for women and lactating mothers”.
Senior advocate Sanjay Parikh, representing the residents of Khori village, told IANS that a bench headed by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar issued notice on the application.
The application sought direction for appointment of a monitoring committee to look into the manner in which temporary shelter and other facilities are being provided to the residents of Khori Gaon and present its conclusions before the top court.
The application said the facilities at the temporary shelter provided at the Radha Soami Satsang Beas are woefully inadequate.
“It is submitted that the temporary shelter facility is a shed which is completely exposed to the elements, with a mud floor, and no partition for privacy for women and lactating mothers… they continue to live in extreme poverty and without a roof over their heads, while they and their families have been reduced to a bare animal existence,” said the application.
The application said the shelter facility has no space for families to carry and store their belongings, which were left in the open after their homes were demolished. Parikh said that most displaced persons for Khori Gaon have requested that if a temporary shelter facility is given to them, it should have the bare minimum requirements, that is, it should protect them from the elements such as the rain, sun and heat, and that it should have some provision to protect the privacy of women who simply cannot spread a mat on the floor and sleep in view of the public.
The petitioners sought the committee to be headed by a retired judge of the top court or a high court, and have at least one expert on the issue of rehabilitation and displacement, one expert on the issue of health and nutrition, and at least one woman member.
On Friday, a bench comprising Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari asked the state as well as the Faridabad Municipal Corporation to file their responses on the application, and scheduled the matter for further hearing on September 9.
The top court, on August 3, had said all unauthorised structures standing on Aravali forest land in Khori village will have to be demolished and its order in the matter is “very clear”.