Railway Encroachment: Encroachment Arises In Connivance
Railway Encroachment: Encroachment arises in connivance with police, administration, and politics. Encroachments on railway lands are in many forms. Defaults in defining it and then taking action to add to the problem of encroachment.
The policies of the Railways may be strong in their place, but the nexus of the local police, administration, politics, and the Railway Protection Force (RPF) adds to the problem. There were several ways to curb these, but the difficulties could not be easier.
In many cities, people who have been sitting for years by creating slums on the side of railway lines are issued drinking water supplies, ration cards, electricity connections and voter cards. After all, who does all this? The removal of illegal settlements that have developed into vote banks is no longer a matter of local railway officers.
RPF Director-General Arun Kumar told ‘media’ on this question – the campaign to remove encroachments on the railway land continues. There are several categories of encroachments, in which the police immediately removes the temporary encroachments. But there are several cases of encroachment that are pending in courts.
They have to wait till the verdict comes. Kumar said that the issue of encroachment is discussed in every meeting of the level of General Manager of Railways. Encroachment removal is a continuous process in railways. It is not ignored. In response to another question, he said that in order to remove the encroachment, force is provided where the RPF is required.
Encroachment into railways is divided into four categories. The most difficult encroachment is placed in the first. It is old and with a solid build. The case here is in the courts. These are supervised by the General Manager level. Similar second-tier encroachments are monitored by DRM level officers along with their officers.
Divisional level officers are entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring the third and fourth-tier encroachments. After the decision to stop and remove the encroachment, the local administration’s cooperation with RPF is taken. Since the decision to remove the first and second-tier encroachments is from the courts, it takes time. Assistance also has to be given in rehabilitation of the people to be removed. Railways are suffering double damage due to this.
According to railway data, the highest incidence of encroachment is on the Northern Railway, where 1145 hectares of land is under illegal occupation. The second place is Southern Eastern Railway, with 182 hectares of land encroached upon. The Northern Frontier Railway has encroachment on 175 hectares of land.
81 hectares of Central Railway and 47 hectares of Western Railway are illegally occupied. The most vacant land (7383 ha) is near the Western Railway. Eastern Central Railway has 5923 hectares of land. 4248 hectares of land is vacant near the South Central Railway.
Railways have to bear double losses
RPF Director General Arun Kumar said that cases related to old or paved construction encroachments on the side of the track or on other lands of the railway eventually go to the courts. Therefore, the decision is also taken by the courts. The railway has its stand. As per the decision, if encroachment is removed, it has to cooperate in the rehabilitation of the people who are removed. This ultimately causes the Railways to suffer double losses.
