Around 1,068 hectares of railway land under encroachment: Ashwini Vaishnaw

New Delhi: Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated on Friday that around 1,068 hectares of land owned by Indian Railways is under encroachment across the country, which accounts for only 0.21 per cent of the total 4.99 lakh hectares of railway land.

The Minister informed Rajya Sabha that if one sees the utilisation of all railway land, nearly 80 per cent of the land is near the tracks, 5 per cent around it, while the remaining 15 per cent is used for the development of stations, colonies, hospitals, and other facilities.

“Around 0.21 per cent of railway land is under illegal encroachment in the country,” he said.

Admitting that illegal encroachment is a serious issue, Vaishnaw said the Railways has been taking action to evict encroachers. However, a humanitarian approach is adopted in such cases, as many of the poorest people have set up jhuggis on railway land. Wherever possible, practical solutions are worked out in coordination with state governments, he said.

The Railways has fully digitised its land records, which are now available on a dedicated portal. Surveys have also been conducted using drones and satellite imagery for all railway land parcels. Besides, the railways keep monitoring to prevent any fresh encroachments of its land. As a result, fresh encroachments have been significantly reduced and almost stopped. “Most of the existing encroachments have been in place for many decades,” the Minister noted.

“During the current financial year, we expect to generate around Rs 900 crore in revenue from developments or commercial utilisation land through Rail Land Development Authority. "This figure is likely to increase significantly in the coming years,” he informed the House.

In a separate written reply, during the last five years, about 98.02 hectares of railway land has been reclaimed from encroachments. "Land which is not immediately required by the Railways is entrusted to the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) for commercial utilisation,” he added.