Out of 4.99 lakh hectares of railways land, 1068 hectare under encroachment: Vaishnaw

New Delhi, Dec 12 (PTI) Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated on Friday in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha that as on March 31, 2025, the total land in possession of the Indian Railways was about 4.99 lakh hectares, out of which 1068.54 hectares were encroached in various parts of the country for quite a long period.

While responding to questions regarding the land parcels of the railways presently under encroachment in the country, Vaishnaw said that the railways carry out regular surveys and take action for their removal.

“In case of encroachments of temporary nature (soft encroachments) in the shape of jhuggies, jhopris and squatters, the same are removed in consultation and with the assistance of the Railway Protection Force and the local civil authorities,” the railway minister said.

He added, “For old encroachments which are in the form of pucca structures (hard encroachments), where the party is not amenable to persuasion, action is taken under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971 (PPE Act, 1971), as amended from time to time. The actual eviction of unauthorised occupants is carried out with the assistance of the state government and the local administration/police.” According to Vaishnaw, the encroached railway land, after retrieval, is utilised for infrastructural development of the railways, namely multi-tracking, station development work, plantation, staff amenities works etc as per the site condition.

The railway minister, while providing details of removal of illegal occupants, stated that during the past five years, 98.02 hectares of railway land has been freed from encroachment.

“Also, the land, which is not immediately required by the railways, is entrusted to the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) for commercial utilisation,” he said. PTI JP JP MNK MNK