Over 879 hectares of railways' land under encroachment: Sinha

Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha on Friday said approximately 879.48 hectares of land of the railways were under encroachment as on March 31.

In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Sinha said, "Most of these encroachments are in the approaches of the stations in Metros and big cities. For these encroachments, the railways carry out regular surveys and take action for their removal."

"If the encroachments are of temporary nature (soft encroachment) in the shape of jhuggies, jhopries and squatters, the same is got removed in consultation and with the assistance of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and local civil authorities," he said.

"For old encroachments, "he said, "action is taken under Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971 (PPE Act, 1971), as amended from time to time. Actual eviction of unauthorised occupants is carried out with the assistance of State Government and police."

During the last three years, 89 hectares encroached land has been retrieved, he added.

In order to safeguard railway land, regular inspections are carried out at various levels. In case, any trespass is noticed which may eventually lead to encroachment, it is removed there and then, he said.

"The land records are regularly updated and got verified from revenue authorities. Besides these regular measures, keeping in view the seriousness of the issue, the digitised mapping of land records has been initiated and it has been decided to fix responsibility on officials for any encroachments," he said.

"To protect the railway land, the railways also take measures like provision of boundary wall, tree plantation at vulnerable locations, Grow More Food Scheme etc," he added.