The Supreme Court had ordered the elimination of slums on railway land throughout Delhi in August 2020, however over two-and-a-half years later there was no motion. In truth, 150 acres of land belonging to the nationwide transporter stays underneath encroachment within the metropolis.
According to official paperwork accessed by News18, round 2.5 lakh individuals are residing in slums throughout the town – Naraina Vihar, Azadpur, Shakur Basti, Mayapuri, Sriniwaspuri, Anand Parbat and Okhla. “According to the last survey done by the DUSIB (Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board) in 2014, there are 48,000 shanties on railway land in Delhi covering around 150 acres. This is not only impacting movement of trains as we need to put speed restrictions on certain parts due to safety reasons; it’s also a major challenge to ensure cleanliness,” a ministry official instructed News18 on situation of anonymity.
The official mentioned regardless of common drives to scrub out these areas, each different day the identical quantity of rubbish is dumped in and across the tracks. There is not any approach to maintain these areas clear “unless jhuggis are removed”, the official added.
In its order, the SC had directed that the railways, Delhi authorities and ministry of city growth ought to attempt to type this out. The railways mentioned as a coverage, it was not presupposed to undertake rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R).
“As a policy, it should be undertaken by the state government. This practice is followed across India. The state governments have to bear the cost of resettlement. If the railways started R&R, it would be an invitation for all to come and settle on railway land and then they would demand compensation for resettlement. If we started doing it in one place, it will be used as an example everywhere across India,” the railway official mentioned.
What is the Delhi authorities saying?
The Delhi authorities mentioned underneath the Delhi Slum and JJ Rehabilitation and Relocation Policy, 2015, the rehabilitation work must be undertaken by the company that owns the encroached land. “Since the railways owns the land, it has to take up the R&R. In case they want us to take up this task for them, they should pay us,” an official instructed News18, on situation of anonymity.
According to DUSIB’s official web site, will probably be the nodal company for relocation and rehabilitation of JJ clusters from land belonging to MCD and Delhi authorities in addition to its departments and businesses. “In case of central government agencies like railways, Delhi Development Authority, land and development office, Delhi Cantonment Board and New Delhi Municipal Council, they will be free to carry out the relocation and rehabilitation themselves as per policy of the Delhi government or may entrust the job to DUSIB,” the web site reads.
How encroachment is impacting the railways?
In the nationwide capital, initiatives value Rs 550 crore are caught due to encroachment on railway land. “Many of our projects are stuck because of these encroachment. One of them being the grade separator (a railway flyover) at Daya Basti. The construction work for this had stopped around 10 to 12 years ago because of land encroachment. There are around 1,700 shanties in this area, which need to be cleared for the work to be completed. It is half done and the investment on it is being wasted. This project was around Rs 200 crore,” the official mentioned.
Another such mission caught is the development of a training terminal at Shakur Basti at a price of round Rs 250 crore. There are about 750 shanties impacting the completion of this mission.
Encroachment has additionally affected a rise in line capability. The official mentioned the railways wished to extend the traces to ease site visitors movement however was unable to take action. Similar initiatives deliberate for ring railway as properly however “everything is stuck”, the official added.
“At certain locations, encroachment causes bottlenecks and safety hazards in train operations and difficulties in track maintenance. Encroachment is also a nuisance to the public besides a bottleneck to creating new infrastructure,” the railway official added.
According to the ministry of railways, 782.81 hectares (1,934.36 acres) of land is underneath encroachment as on March 31, 2022, throughout India. The northern zone has the best share of this – 157.89 hectare (390 acres) – adopted by the southeastern zone with 140.60 hectares of land underneath encroachment.
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