After monsoon, railways may remove post-1995 encroachments

MUMBAI, October 1: Speaking in one voice today, Minister of State for Railways Ram Naik and the general managers of both the Western and ...

MUMBAI, October 1: Speaking in one voice today, Minister of State for Railways Ram Naik and the general managers of both the Western and Central railways appealed for help from the state government for the removal of encroachments that have sprung up after the January 1995 deadline.

8220;Trains are not going at the right speed, we need the help of the state and we need police help for removing encroachments,8221; Naik said, adding that the railways would soon begin its post-monsoon drive of clearing the encroachments in the 10-metre safety zone, which had sprung up near the tracks after the deadline.

8220;The state government will have to step in. We are trying to tell them again and again, give us powers, give us authority, by what authority can I remove encroachments,8221; said an exasperated Western Railway General Manager Vasudev Gupta. He added that removing hutments under the existing Public Premises Eviction Act took six to nine months and lots of energy8217;.

The statement by the Ministry of Surface Transportand both railway GMs seems to have once again gently but politely reminded the state government that the ball is in its court. Responding to a public interest writ petition filed before the high court earlier this year, the state government admitted that as the encroachments were on railway land they were not governed by the rehabilitation policy.

8220;This is a social problem, a continuing problem and a lucrative business, but without the state government we cannot do anything,8221; said Gupta. He added that WR too was facing serious problems in running its train services and in projects like the quadrupling of tracks between Borivli and Virar.

Naik highlighted the one problem that has been the sore point between the railways and the state administration- providing the police personnel to accompany a demolition drive.

Chief Minister Narayan Rane had been apprised of the grim situation on the railway tracks on Thursday and he had agreed to convene a meeting of all the officials concerned with the problemincluding both railway GMs and the chief secretary.

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Naik was speaking to presspersons after attending his last meeting with both suburban railways as minister of railways in the outgoing 12th Lok Sabha. Today8217;s meeting was called to review the projects in the suburban section and included four members of the railway board.

Denying there was any proposal to stop plying trains, Naik emphasised that 8220;trains will not be stopped, they are the lifeline of Mumbai.8221;

Central Railway GM KB Shankaran denied having threatened to suspend railway services in his letter to the chief secretary on July 31 this year. His letter only mentioned that the encroachments between Wadala and Mahim were increasing and that track maintainence was becoming difficult. 8220;We only said that if the present state of things continued, then maintainence would become very difficult.8221;

Of the two railways, the Central Railway is the hardest hit by encroachments with an estimated 25,000 hutments on its tracks.