With the residents of a village in Outer Delhi fighting for almost a decade against illegal encroachment and filling up of a public well, the Delhi High Court has directed the Lieutenant-Governor, the Divisional Commissioner and other agencies to ensure that the same is cleaned and restored within four weeks.
The court passed the order on a petition filed by one Naveen, a resident of village Iradat Nagar in Narela in Outer Delhi seeking removal of encroachments and unauthorised constructions by some miscreants near a public well which had religious sentiments attached to it. It also demanded the cleaning of the well which has now been filled with cow dung, debris and other waste.
The petitioner told the a Bench of Justice Hima Kohli that the area Sub Divisional Magistrate and the Irrigation and Flood Control Department had prepared a scheme to clean the encroachment at a cost of Rs.1.47 lakh but nothing concrete has been done despite two earlier orders from the High Court and their numerous representations.
“The petition is disposed of with directions...to ensure that scheme worked out by the Chief Engineer of the Flood Control Department for restoration and cleaning of the well is implemented within four weeks under written intimation to the petitioner,” Justice Hima Kohli said.
The petition said “the well was used by the villagers for prayers and that the worship of the well is in conformity with the religious sanctity, ritual ceremony, customs and social obligation on the occasion of birth of a male child. The well or the gram sabha land being grabbed by miscreants, villagers have been deprived of performing ‘Kuan Poojan’ on the aforesaid occasions.”
It said in 2010, the High Court had ordered that all encroachments from the public land be removed and to ensure that the well is used as a public well by all the villagers. The then SDM of Narela had also given an undertaking in the court that the encroachments from around the well will be removed within a week. But the government authorities did not bother to comply with earlier directions of the court as they are hand in gloves with encroachers.
