Lok Sabha Question No. 949 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-02-08
Subject: Encroachment of Railway Land
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Manjulata Mandal, C.N. Annadurai, Ganesan Selvam, Dhanush M Kumar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 949 TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.02.2023

## ENCROACHMENT OF RAILWAY LAND

## 949.  SHRIMATI MANJULATA MANDAL:

SHRI C.N. ANNADURAI:

SHRI SELVAM G:

SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the total land in possession  of Railways in the country, State-wise especially in Odisha and Tamil Nadu as on date;
- (b) the  main  features  of  policy  governing  management  and  use  of railway land;
- (c) the  details  of  the  total  land  area  of  Railways  encroached  upon  by slums, State and city-wise as on date;
- (d) the total area of encroached land got freed by the Railways during each of the last three years and current year, Zone-wise; and
- (e)    whether  the  Railways  has  assessed  the  loss  of  revenue  due  to encroachment  of  its  land  during  the  above  period  and  if  so,  the details thereof along with the corrective steps taken  by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND

ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a) to (e) :  A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e)  OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 949 BY SHRIMATI MANJULATA MANDAL, SHRI  C.N.  ANNADURAI,  SHRI  SELVAM  G  AND  SHRI  DHANUSH  M. KUMAR  TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 08.02.2023 REGARDING ENCROACHMENT OF RAILWAY LAND

(a):  The  total  land  in  possession  of  Indian  Railways  is  4.86  lakh hectare(approximately)  as  on  31.03.2022  which  includes  the  land  in the State of Odisha and Tamil Nadu. State-wise data of land holding of Indian  Railways  is  not  maintained.  The  Zone-wise  figure  of  land holding is as under:-

## (Figures in Hectares)

| Zonal Railway      |   Land Holding as 31.03.2022 |
|--------------------|------------------------------|
| Central            |                      29421.6 |
| Eastern            |                      20972.9 |
| East Central       |                      37210.4 |
| East Coast         |                      22964.7 |
| Northern           |                      44005.5 |
| North Central      |                      19353   |
| North Eastern      |                      25648.2 |
| Northeast Frontier |                      48357.5 |
| North Western      |                      26866.6 |
| Southern           |                      26945.5 |
| South Central      |                      32679.1 |
| South Eastern      |                      42850.9 |

| Southeast Central   |   23116.57 |
|---------------------|------------|
| South Western       |   19563.3  |
| Western             |   38273.8  |
| West Central        |   23658.4  |
| Metro               |     148.87 |
| Production Units    |    3820.3  |
| Total               |  485857    |

(b):  A  Master  Circular  on  'Policy  for  Management  of  Railway  land' which  includes  provisions  for  leasing  of  Railway  land  for  activities connected  with  Railway  working,  public  infrastructure,  Government Departments, Hospitals, Kendriya Vidyalayas, etc. has been issued on 04.10.2022. Railway land is leased to new Cargo related projects/facilities  and  renewable  energy,  water  treatment/recycling, sewage treatment  plants,  etc.  for  exclusive  use  of  the  Railways,  by transparent methods of competitive bidding. For critical infrastructure/public  service  utilities  projects,  Railway  land  is  also leased on the specific requirement of concerned Ministries/Department/Agencies. The lease charges and lease period of Railway land is activity specific.

(c):  Railways  do  not  maintain  State/  City-wise  details  of  encroached land. Zone-wise figure of encroachment on Railway land is as under:

| Railway   |   Land under Encroachment |
|-----------|---------------------------|
| Central   |                      52.5 |

| Eastern            |   21.94 |
|--------------------|---------|
| East Central       |    1.35 |
| East Coast         |   13.04 |
| Northern           |  157.89 |
| North Central      |   40.98 |
| North Eastern      |   23.31 |
| Northeast Frontier |   93.19 |
| North Western      |   18.34 |
| Southern           |   55.15 |
| South Central      |   14.34 |
| South Eastern      |  140.6  |
| Southeast Central  |   41.41 |
| South Western      |   16.26 |
| Western            |   50.59 |
| West Central       |   36.23 |
| Production Units   |    5.69 |
| Total              |  782.81 |

## (d):  The total area of land retrieved from encroachment during each of the  last  three  years  and  the  current  year  (up  to  December,  2022), Zone-wise, are as under:

| Area retrieved from encroachment (in Hectare)   | Area retrieved from encroachment (in Hectare)   | Area retrieved from encroachment (in Hectare)   | Area retrieved from encroachment (in Hectare)   | Area retrieved from encroachment (in Hectare)   |
|-------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|
| Railway                                         | 2019-20                                         | 2020-21                                         | 2021-22                                         | 2022-2023 (up to 31.12. 2022)                   |

| Central            | 0.00   | 0.27   |   3.33 | 2.98   |
|--------------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|
| Eastern            | 0.00   | -      |   0.66 | 1.34   |
| East Central       | 0.19   | 0.15   |   0.02 | 0.50   |
| East Coast         | 0.06   | 0.74   |   0.11 | 0.72   |
| Northern           | 7.11   | 0.00   |  18.1  | -      |
| North Central      | 0.05   | 0.00   |   0.46 | 0.15   |
| North Eastern      | 0.00   | 2.08   |   0    | 0.26   |
| Northeast Frontier | 1.07   | 0.07   |   0.67 | 0.13   |
| North Western      | 0.09   | -      |   0    | 0.00   |
| Southern           | 0.62   | -      |   0    | 0.00   |
| South Central      | 0.45   | 0.26   |   1.38 | 0.28   |
| South Eastern      | 0.59   | 0.23   |   0.33 | 0.16   |
| Southeast Central  | 0.58   | 1.41   |   0.17 | -      |
| South Western      | 0.00   | 0.00   |   0    | 0.01   |
| Western            | -      | 1.41   |   1.93 | 0.26   |
| West Central       | -      | 0.09   |   0.33 | 0.04   |
| Production Units   | 0.01   | 0.02   |   0.01 | 0.01   |

(e):    At  certain  locations,  encroachments  cause  bottlenecks,  safety hazards in train operations and difficulties in track maintenance which at  times  affects  both  the  line  capacity  and  the  throughput  which ultimately  affect  the  revenue  of  Railways  which  is  not  feasible  to assess.

For  prevention/removal  of  encroachments,  Railways  carry  out regular surveys for identifying encroachments and take action for their removal. If the encroachments are of temporary nature (soft encroachments)  in  the  shape  of  jhuggies,  jhopris  and  squatters,  the same  are  got  removed  in  consultation  and  with  the  assistance  of Railway Protection Force and local civil authorities. For old encroachments, where party is not amenable to persuasion, action is taken  under  Public  Premises  (Eviction  of  Unauthorized  Occupants) Act,  1971  (PPE  Act,  1971),  as  amended  from  time  to  time.    Actual eviction of unauthorized occupants is carried out with the assistance of State Government and police.

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