Doon Valley river encroachments to be removed by June 30: Uttarakhand govt

The Uttarakhand government gave the timeline in an affidavit in the high court in response to a plea that pointed to dying rivers due to encroachments on the feeder drains and streams

Published on: Apr 16, 2025, 11:51:26 IST

By Neeraj Santoshi

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Encroachments around the Bindal River in Dehradun’s Doon Valley will be removed by June 30, the Uttarakhand government has said in an affidavit in the high court in response to a plea that pointed to dying rivers due to encroachments on the feeder drains and streams. The affidavit said encroachments on 29.5257 hectares out of 35.7135 hectares of land within the Dehradun municipal limits have been removed.

The state government told the court that a committee has been constituted to remove the encroachments. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

“Further, 6.1878 hectares of land is still in possession of illegal encroachers,” said the affidavit filed on Tuesday as a bench of Chief Justice G Narender and Justice Alok Mahra heard Dehradun-resident Urmila Thapa’s public interest litigation over tree felling and encroachments around storm water drains that flow into Rispana and Bindal rivers.

The plea said encroachments on the feeder drains and streams were killing the rivers. It added that tree felling has led to a decline in green cover along the river catchment areas, affected their recharge capacity, and reduced water levels.

Lawyer Abhijay Negi, who appeared for Thapa, said the high court had directed the authorities to remove encroachments in the catchment of Rispana and Bindal rivers. He added that the court on Tuesday stayed constructions near or on both these rivers, for which no sanction plan has been approved

The state government told the court that a committee has been constituted to remove the encroachments from the Bindal River. “...[a] survey near Bindal River is ongoing...after the completion of [the] survey, all identified encroachments shall be removed by 30.06.2025 [June 30] as per law,” said the affidavit. “...encroachments for which litigations are pending...shall also be removed within one month after the decision of the Apar Tehsildar and the City Magistrate. ...all measures are being taken...to remove the encroachments expeditiously.”

On March 24, the high court noted that the petitioner pointed out that debris dumped in seasonal streams has resulted in landslides during the monsoons. It said the authorities have done little to alleviate the hardships of Doon Valley residents.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More

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