An official said an action taken report has to be sent to the Railway Board by month end. (Representational) As part of a major anti-encroachment drive in Mumbai suburban railway network, the railway authorities are sending eviction notices to people illegally occupying railway premises across Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).
The move comes after Railway Board Member (Infrastructure) Sanjeev Mittal ordered all zonal railways to remove encroachers by conducting eviction proceedings. Following this, an anti-encroachment drive was started by the Western Railway (WR) and Central Railway (CR) with eviction notices being sent to all encroachers. An official said an action taken report has to be sent to the Railway Board by month end.
On Monday, notices were issued to occupants of chawls, slums and other illegal structures in Thane, Kalwa and Mumbra, which stated that they could endanger rail tracks.
However, state Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad and MP Shrikant Shinde, son of Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde, opposed CR’s drive against encroachment.
“It’s shocking to see @Central_Railway giving notices to premises/residents residing near the rail track to vacate within 7 days who are staying there for 70 years . We’re is the alternative arrangement. No body can throw them on road. We will not allow this to happen. @RailMinIndia,” Awhad tweeted.
Shrikant Shinde also tweeted to Railways Minister Raosaheb Danve, asking about the notices issued in Kalyan, Dombivali and Kalwa. He demanded a joint meeting of the local bodies, the state government and the railway administration on the issue.
Responding to Awhad’s tweet, CR divisional engineer for coordination, tweeted, “Railway land has been encroached at several locations and hence, vacation notices have been served as per provisions in The Railways Act, 1989.”
An official in CR said, “Thousands of occupants are illegal occupying railway premises along the tracks. This creates obstacles in running rail services and also extending the railway network.”
Senior officials said that over 60-70 hectare of railway land has been encroached by slum dwellers in MMR. “Rehabilitation of slum dwellers comes under the prerogative of the state government and Railways doesn’t have any policy regarding the same,” an official said.
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