814 hectares of rail land under encroachment across country: Railway Minister

The Railway Ministry on Wednesday informed Parliament that 814 hectares of the national transporter's land is under encroachment across its 17 zones.

Replying to a query in Lok Sabha, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal in a written reply said most of the encroachments are near railway stations.

"Most of the encroachments on Railway land are in the approaches of stations in Metros and big cities in the form of slums around railway tracks. The State-wise details are not maintained by the Railways," he said, listing the zone-wise details of encroachments as on March 31 this year.

The Supreme Court, in its order dated August 31 issued in the context of piling up of the waste/garbage beside the railway tracks in Delhi, has directed for preparation of a comprehensive plan for removal of jhuggis present along the tracks and removal of encroachments in the safety zone in the region of National Capital Territory of Delhi within a period of three months.

According to the list presented by the Railways, the most encroached land -- 175 hectares -- is in the Northern Railway zone which serves the states of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and the union territories of Chandigarh and Delhi.

This is followed by the South Eastern Railway zone with 141.16 hectares under encroachment.