UN asks India to halt eviction of 1 lakh people from Khori village in midst of monsoon rains

United Nations experts on Friday called on Indian authorities to halt evictions of around 1 lakh people from Khori village in Haryana during the monsoon season.

UN Special Rapporteurs appealed to India to "urgently review its plans for razing" Khori village and "consider regularising the settlement" in order to ensure no citizen is left homeless.

However, in response, the Permanent Mission of India to the Office of the United Nations issued a statement on which it said, "It is unfortunate that the Special Rapporteurs have chosen to issue a press release just two days after sending a joint communication to this Mission and not waiting for a response."

Earlier, the Supreme Court of India on June 7 had directed the Municial Corporation of Faridabad (MCF) to "remove encroachments on the subject forest land [in Khori village] without any exception" and had given six weeks till July 19 to complete the task in order to "reclaim Aravalli forest land".

Meanwhile, people in Khori village have been protesting against the massive demolition action which aims to remove around 10,000 residential structures in the Aravalli forest area near the Khori village.