Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav told in a written reply in Rajya Sabha that till March 31, 2025, Indian Railways has a total of 4.99 lakh hectares of land. But there is encroachment on 1068.54 hectares of land. Meaning, this part of Indian Railways land is not able to be used. Out of approximately 5 lakh hectares, approximately 1100 hectares does not seem like a big figure, but by making better use of this land, Railways can definitely generate revenue for itself.
If we look at old records, we find that this encroachment did not happen in a day. It has grown steadily since independence, especially near big cities, where people came in search of work and found no place to live. In metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Chennai, the empty spaces along the railway tracks gradually transformed into slums and permanent houses.
This has been a big dilemma for the Railways. Whenever any new project like building a Road Over Bridge (ROB), expanding a station, or starting multi-tracking work, this encroachment has become a hindrance.
Railways realized that this is not only a home for the poor, but shops and warehouses have also been built illegally at many places, which are also a threat to the security of the Railways.
law to remove encroachment from railway lines
When this encroachment became a wall in the way of big projects, such as freight corridors and high-speed rail, the Railways decided to take strict action. This was not just a ‘remove encroachment’ campaign, but a complete plan to take back the land and utilize it fully.
Railways took recourse to the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1971. This law gives legal power to Railways to remove illegal encroachment. The help of Railway Protection Force (RPF) and local administration was taken at the ground level.
The main objective of this process was that the land should not remain vacant after removal of encroachment. It was divided into two parts-
- For Infrastructure: The land which was immediately required for the railway work was immediately used. Such as in building new tracks, stations or quarters.
- To earn: The land which was not to be used immediately was given to the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA).
The role of RLDA becomes very important here. RLDA gives this vacant land on commercial lease, such as for building large parking lots, shopping complexes or warehouses. Due to this, Railways gets income from fares, which brings more money for the development of Railways.
Illegal encroachments are being removed continuously
Due to these efforts of Railways, a large part of land has been freed in the last few years. The Railway Minister said that work is being done continuously in this direction with the help of legal processes and administrative support. This is a slow but continuous process, because every capture has a human or legal complexity attached to it, which has to be proved in court.
