By IANS,
Gandhinagar: Hutment dwellers affected by the prestigious riverfront development project coming up along Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad were a relieved lot Tuesday following the Gujarat High Court’s directions on providing alternative housing for them.
The bench of Chief Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya and Justice J.B. Pardiwala, hearing a petition of persons displaced due to the project, asked 3,798 families to move to the houses allotted to them by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) by July 31.
The court also directed the corporation and the state government to allot houses to the remaining 4,319 families by August-September.
These allotments will be made in joint names of husband, wife and children, living in a family, so that they can claim their rights in future.
Those who are not yet allotted houses and are on the list of the civic body, will be issued allotment letters in advance by the corporation, the court noted.
The allottees are, however, prohibited from transferring or sub-leasing these dwellings to anyone without prior permission of the civic body.
The court also asked the government to ensure that no further encroachment is made as and when families are moved from the project site. The court observed that no further encroachment will be tolerated henceforth.
When Advocate General Kamal Trivedi raised issue of complaints being made against AMC officials, lawyer for the families Girish Patel assured the court that they will not pursue the complaints unless a grievous offence has been committed by the officers.
The affected families who are hutment dwellers of Gujari Bazaar had been facing demolition drive undertaken by the corporation and had approached the high court for relief.
The next hearing in the case has been slated for Aug 8. The corporation has to file its report by the same date.