India News | Uttarakhand HC Seeks Reply from Haridwar Administration over Removal of Leprosy Patients
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Uttarakhand High Court on Thursday sought a reply from the Haridwar district administration on the alleged removal of leprosy patients and their ashrams from the banks of the Ganga and other places in the holy town as part of an anti-encroachment drive.
Nainital, Jul 14 (PTI) Uttarakhand High Court on Thursday sought a reply from the Haridwar district administration on the alleged removal of leprosy patients and their ashrams from the banks of the Ganga and other places in the holy town as part of an anti-encroachment drive.
Taking suo motu cognizance of the matter, a division bench of Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice R C Khulbe asked the Haridwar district magistrate to submit a reply within two weeks.
Dehradun-based NGO Welfare Society Trust had sent a letter to the Chief Justice earlier saying that while removing encroachment from the banks of the Ganga, the government had also removed the leprosy patients.
“They have no proper housing nor any other arrangements to live. Leprosy patients are living in the open. The condition is getting worse due to heavy rains,” the letter said.
The court has asked the DM to submit a report on the number of leprosy ashrams and leprosy patients in Haridwar district. Along with this the report must also contain the status of housing, living conditions, health check-up of such patients and the budget available for their rehabilitation, it said.
The NGO's letter said that during the President's visit to Haridwar in 2018, the then district magistrate had demolished the Ganga Mata Leprosy Ashram located in Chandighat along with another ashram.
The court will now hear the matter after two weeks.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)