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Published on
August 8, 2017
February 28, 2024
Edited on
February 28, 2024
August 8, 2017
In 2017, the Trivendra Singh Rawat-led government of Uttarakhand commenced its ambitious project to build a railway line connecting 12 stations from Rishikesh to Karnaprayag. Land acquisition for the 125-kilometre-long Rishikesh-Karnaprayag railway line began soon after. For this, no objection certificates were obtained from Women’s Hospital, Kathod village, Srinagar; Degree College, also from Kathod village, Srinagar; Degree College, Old Srinagar; GNTI, Old Srinagar; and Polytechnic, Bhalgaon, Srinagar.
High-tension wires of Power Transmission Corporation of Uttarakhand Limited were being shifted, and notices were issued to the landholders to acquire their lands. The officials completed the public hearing under the chairmanship of Mukta Mishra, the district magistrate at Dham Sumerpur village for the land acquisition in Punad, Tilani, Sumerpur and Ratura villages of Rudraprayag block.
But people started a protest in Dungaripanth village, just 12 kilometres from Srinagar, demanding that the compensation should be paid before the start of the project, along with an assured job. Five villages in Chamoli district, 12 in Pauri and 10 in Rudraprayag will be affected as massive tunnelling and relentless blasting will destroy agricultural fields and water sources and are likely to cause cracks in houses.
About 300 homes are on the periphery of the proposed railway line. In 2018, the land acquisition process was in its last phase in which 48 homes from seven villages in Tehri district were asked to shift. Overall, 45 villages, with a total of 1,168 families, in Tehri, Pauri, Rudraprayag and Chamoli districts will be relocated.
On October 10, 2019, the chief minister took a review meeting on the progress of the railway line and instructed officials to prioritise the compensation work. Despite this, some villages have still not received compensation. The residents of Narkota village met the district magistrate and submitted a memorandum in July 2020 demanding compensation. The families claim that notices of demolition have been served but compensation has not been provided for it.
As of January 2021, the construction contract of the project is said to have been awarded to Larsen & Toubro.
Earlier, the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), which is tasked with construction of the Rishikesh-Karnaprayag line, had determined a total compensation amount of Rs 496 crore for affected landowners, of which Rs 229 crore was sanctioned for Tehri, Rs 148 crore for Chamoli, Rs 93 crore for Rudraprayag, and Rs 26 crore for Pauri. However, in February 2021, the Land Acquisition Tribunal directed RVNL to also compensate the artisans, the tenants and the labourers, working in the affected areas for three years prior to the acquisition, who were impacted due to the project.
In August 2022, residents of affected villages in Pauri Gahwal flagged the development of cracks in their houses due to the use of explosives to blast rocks to dug tunnels for the railway project. The residents of Sweeth in Pauri Garhwal also alleged that over 100 houses in Sweeth and houses in Dhamak Narkota and Dobripanth have developed cracks while landslides have also increased.
In December 2021, a committee headed by the Pauri Garhwal District Magistrate identified 224 affected families, developed a compensatory package of Rs 1.5 crore, and forwarded it to RVNL. According to a report by _The Northern Gazette, _RVNL officials refused to pay the compensation citing a lack of scientific study to determine if the cracks were due to the railway tunnel construction work.
Since then, the incidences of houses being damaged along the rail route has spread, and some stretches of the work has been halted due to protests. In Maroda, near Karnaprayag, the District Magistrate directed RVNL to compensate villagers for the subsidence-related damage. A notice posted in November at the village authority's office stated that RVNL was purchasing an additional 1,387 hectares of land from villagers because of subsidence, at a cost of almost Rs 30 crore.
A report by The Times of India stated that the RVNL, having admitted that the cracks were due to blasting and tunnelling for the under-construction railway line, paid Rs 20 crore compensation to 60 families here.
In Chamoli district, villagers alleged that their spring dried up due to the rail project. The panchayat informed the district administration, RVNL, the SDM and the tunnel contractor, but have not received any response so far.
In March 2023, Vinod Bisht, the liason officer with RVNL confirmed that they have received about 1,000 complaints about damages to people’s houses due to the construction.
Amid reports of damages to houses, the government had tasked the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) with investigating cracks along the Rishikesh-Karnaprayag rail project in Tehri, Pauri Garhwal, Rudraprayag, and Chamoli districts. Until April 2023, it had completed its probe of Tehri and Pauri Garhwal districts and was still working on Chamoli and Rudraprayag.
Until April 2023, RVNL had reportedly paid nearly Rs 911 crore as compensation for land acquisition and damage to houses.
Demand for promised compensation
Demand for assured job
Urban and Rural
Common and Private
Forest and Non-Forest
What was the action taken by the police?
How many people did the police detain or arrest?
What is the current status of the detained/accused persons?
Did the person face any violence while in police custody?
Did the person face any violence while in police custody?
If any arrests took place, were the accused persons produced before a judge within 24 hours of the arrest?
If the accused was not produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, or not produced at all, what were the reasons?
Legislation under which the accused was charged
Was the accused person informed of their right to legal representation? Did the accused person have access to legal aid?
In cases where the accused person approached the court for bail, was bail granted?
Why was bail granted or rejected? If granted, what were the bail conditions and quantum of bail?
Were there any other notable irregularities that took place, or other significant details?
Details of sources (names of accused, names and numbers of any lawyers, names of any police officers contacted)
Status of Project
Project underway despite protests
Original Project Deadline
2024
Whether the Project has been Delayed
No
Significance of Land to Land Owners/Users
Residential area
Whether the project was stalled due to land conflict
Source/Reference
Total investment involved (in Crores):
₹
16216
Type of investment:
Cost of Project
Year of Estimation
2017
Page Number In Investment Document:
Has the Conflict Ended?
When did it end?
Why did the conflict end?
Categories of Legislations Involved in the Conflict
Land Acquisition Laws
Legislations/Policies Involved
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Whether claims/objections were made as per procedure in the relevant statute
What was the claim(s)/objection(s) raised by the community?
What was the Decision of the Concerned Government Department?
Legal Processes and Loopholes Enabling the Conflict:
Controversial land acquisition by the government
Non-implementation/violation of LARR Act
Non-payment of compensation/promised compensation
Non-rehabilitation of displaced people
Forced evictions/dispossession of land
Legal Status:
Out of Court
Status of Case In Court
Whether any adjudicatory body was approached
Name of the adjudicatory body
Name(s) of the Court(s)
Case Number
Main Reasoning/Decision of court
Major Human Rights Violations Related to the Conflict:
Whether criminal law was used against protestors:
Reported Details of the Violation:
Date of Violation
Location of Violation
Nature of Protest
Complaints/petitions/letters/memorandums to officials
Government Departments Involved in the Conflict:
Ministry of Railways
PSUs Involved in the Conflict:
Rail Vikas Nigam Limited
Did LCW Approach Government Authorities for Comments?
Name, Designation and Comment of the Government Authorities Approached
Corporate Parties Involved in the Conflict:
Did LCW Approach Corporate Parties for Comments?
Communities/Local Organisations in the Conflict:
What was the action taken by the police?
How many people did the police detain or arrest?
What is the current status of the detained/accused persons?
Did the person face any violence while in police custody?
If any arrests took place, were the accused persons produced before a judge within 24 hours of the arrest?
If the accused was not produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, or not produced at all, what were the reasons?
Legislation under which the accused was charged
Was the accused person informed of their right to legal representation? Did the accused person have access to legal aid?
In cases where the accused person approached the court for bail, was bail granted?
Why was bail granted or rejected? If granted, what were the bail conditions and quantum of bail?
Were there any other notable irregularities that took place, or other significant details?
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