Observing that
urbanisation policies have flaws, the Supreme Court has said one of the main
reasons for spurt in unauthorised constructions is the government's failure to
provide people with affordable houses.
Acknowledging
that the right to have a roof over head is a fundamental right, the top court
said there is a huge gap in the policies between the requirements of the
economically weaker sections and what the government was doing at the ground
level.
The observations
by a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta came while hearing a
case relating to demolition of commercial and residential units in Lucknow's
Akbar Nagar where it imposed an interim stay on demolitions.
"Let us be
clear on housing. There's a difficulty. Our urbanisation policies have flaws.
Really speaking, we have not provided for economically weaker sections.
Somewhere, we will have to ensure Everyone knows that migration takes place to
the cities. But there is a huge gap in the policies between the requirements
and what we are able to do at the ground-level.
"Why are
there so many unauthorised colonies in Delhi? Because DDA (Delhi Development
Authority) does not even know where 60-70 per cent of the land is. All has been
acquired," the bench observed.
The top court was
hearing a batch of petitions challenging the demolition of commercial spaces in
Lucknow's Akbar Nagar after the Allahabad High Court dismissed the pleas of the
occupants on February 27.
Senior advocate S
Muralidhar and Shoeb Alam, appearing for the petitioners, said the demolition
started on February 27 after the high court order. They said residential houses
were also being demolished along with commercial spaces.
Additional
Solicitor General K M Nataraj, representing the UP government, submitted the
matter related to demolition of residential houses constructed on government
land on a river front is sub-judice before the Allahabad High Court and
judgment has been reserved.
The ASG said the
occupants put up all kinds of illegal commercial constructions on the riverbank
without license or permission.
After hearing the
submissions, the apex court said, "Till the judgment is pronounced, the
Lucknow Development Authority/State government will not carry out demolition.
They will abide by the order of the High Court.