Railways issues notices to 2 mosques, asks to remove encroachments in 15 days

The Northern Railway has issued notices to two mosques in Delhi — Bengali Market mosque and Babar Shah Takiya mosque — demanding the removal of encroachments within 15 days.

The railway authorities have warned that if the encroachments were not removed within the stipulated timeframe, they will take necessary action to reclaim their land.

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In the notice, the railway administration has stated that their land has been illegally encroached upon, and they are urging the concerned parties to voluntarily remove any unauthorised buildings, temples, mosques, or shrines constructed on their property. Failure to comply with the notice will lead to action taken by the railway administration, in accordance with the Railway Act, to reclaim the encroached land.

The railways also served notice to the adjacent office of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for Malaria and asked them to evict the premises.

Northern Railway officials said they have issued notice against unauthorised structures on railway property and it is a routine exercise to remove encroachments.

The Babar Shah Takiya mosque's secretary, Abdul Gaffar, claimed that the mosque is nearly 400 years old.

The railway authorities insisted that the structures were built on their land without permission.

Earlier, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed Rajya Sabha that of the 4.86 lakh hectares of land that the Railways owns in the entire country, 782 hectares are encroached upon in 2022-23.