Mamata, Board pull up railways for quot;double rolequot;

July 4: Union minister for railways Mamata Banerjee and N Agarwal, chairman of Railway Board have intervened in the ongoing tussle between...

July 4: Union minister for railways Mamata Banerjee and N Agarwal, chairman of Railway Board have intervened in the ongoing tussle between the railways and state government for relocating railway land encroachers alongside the tracks by seeking clarification from the railways on the sudden shift in their stance, according to sources.

This follows a recent hearing in Mumbai High Court where additional solicitor general V Jaisinghani told the division bench that by year end encroachments have to be demolished irrespective of all rehabilitation plans being worked out by the state government. This approach by the railways has surprised everyone involved with the rehabilitation project since the railways had agreed to a time-bound rehabilitation programme in co-ordination with the state government in a meeting held on June 7. The meeting was presided over by the chief secretary Arun Bongirwar where general manager of Central Railway and additional general manager of Western Railway also was present along with World bank officials.

Interestingly, the aggressive stance taken by Jaisinghani during the hearing has taken even the railways by surprise since the affidavit filed by the railways does not mention that all encroachers should be removed by year end, though it cautions on the urgency on the matter.

Sources said that Union minister Ram Naik was alerted on July 3 about the seriousness of the issue since this stance by railways may end up in World Bank shelving the Rs 6,000 crore Mumbai Urban Transport Project, which solely depends on Bank funding. Following which Naik, who was instrumental in augmenting the project during his previous stint as railway minister, requested Mamata Banerjee to intervene in the matter to find a solution to this vexed issue. In fact, Naik had made it clear, while he was handling railways, that the railways affidavit before presenting in the court should be cleared by the railway minister. In fact, during her last visit to the city, she had made it quite clear that rehabilitation plans have to be in place before evacuating the people living alongside the railway tracks.

However, the Western Railway spokesperson said he was not aware on any such intervention by the railway minister. It is also learnt that as soon as the chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh is back in town, this issue will be taken up on a priority basis as the state government has been caught off guard in this matter. The case has been adjourned till July 19 as the state government is yet to file its affidavit on this public interest litigation filed by Citizens for Just Society.

Says Western Railway spokesperson: quot;The manner in which rehabilitation programmes are happening is far from satisfactory. So we have asked for eviction of encroachments at the shortest possible time frame though our affidavit does not mention any specific time like the year-end. In fact, a meeting is called for with the chief secretary by WR general manager to decide on the time schedule for rehabilitation plans.quot;

Central Railway spokesperson also echoed similar views by stating that the affidavit filed by the railways should be taken as the stance taken by the railways and not the hearing proceedings obviously referring to the remarks made by Jaisinghani in the court.

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quot;In our affidavit, we have enclosed all details of the encroachment and the most accident prone spots in our network within the safety zone. It is also mentioned that these hutments close to the tracks should be relocated at the shortest possible time,quot; he adds.

Says UPS Madan, director MUTP, MMRDA: quot;The World Bank has made it clear that the loan package is directly related to the rehabilitation policy and that any demolition in the site should be preceeded by proper rehabilitation programmes. In case of violation to this clause they will withdraw from the project, a fact that is repeatedly stressed upon.quot;

Even more interesting is the fact that after the June 7 meeting, the Railway Board also had agreed to the rehabilitation plans put forward by the state government.