Land encroachment roadblock to transformation of Dimapur Railway Station, says officials

DIMAPUR — Dimapur Railway Station is on the course of being transformed into a world-class facility but the ambitious project is said to have met with land issue due to illegal encroachment, complicated by issuance of land patta to private individuals.

Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) General Manager, Chetan Kumar Shrivastava, who is in Nagaland to take stock of the re-development work of Dimapur Railway Station under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, expressed apprehensions over land issue during a media interaction in Dimapur on Friday.

Speaking about the Centre’s initiative to develop world class stations, he said every state has been given priority not only depending on the footfall of the traffic but also based on the strategic importance of certain cities.

‘In Northeast, 56 stations have been selected by the Ministry of Railways to be converted to world class stations. Huge investment is going to come. When you want to develop a world class station, we require space and there are issues like encroachment. So, unless whole project is accommodated into the environment and space, we can’t expand and deliver,’ he asserted.

Drawing attention to development concerns, the general manager said INR 280 crore has been sanctioned for modernising Dimapur Railway Station with many other facilities.

‘We have the fund; the sanction and drawings are approved, and now, the Railways can fix a contractor agency to execute the work. During the execution, there will obviously be some difficulty and we want everyone to co-operate with the Railways. If co-operation phase is good, the execution will be faster, otherwise it may take very long time and fruits of the project will not come,’ he said.

When asked how the Railways will address the land encroachment issue, he replied that they have the records of the boundary, and the work has to be executed as per the drawing, and that even eviction has to be carried out if there are illegal occupants.

On the issuance of land patta to private parties, he elucidated that land patta policy comes into picture only when it is to do with the railway business.

‘If someone is running private business, I cannot issue patta. We have procedures where we can give the land on lease provided the person is doing some business connected with the railways. We cannot give land on lease for personal benefits of a private party. This policy has been revived only last year,’ he informed.

Divisional Railway Manager, Lumding, Prem Ranjan Kumar, said that eviction of illegal encroachers can be carried out only identifying the encroachers.

‘We have our own clear map that shows railway’s land. But for evicting them, we need state government’s assistance. We have approached the state government many times to confirm using its records that the land belongs to the railways; that they are encroachers and provide assistance in the form of magistrate and police force to plan the evictions,’ he pointed out, adding that the state government is still in the process of identifying encroachers.

This issue was raised when the minister of state for Railways visited Nagaland and to the chief minister. They have formed a high-powered committee comprising the deputy commissioner, one local commissioner and one local railway official — senior Divisional Manager — as members, said Ranjan Kumar, adding that ‘the panel is yet to submit its report and clearly identify the encroachers.

He went on to claim that they had provided all the details about land encroachment but the state government has not confirmed the same as many land pattas have been illegally issued by previous administrations. Those pattas have to be cancelled, he added.

“The (land) size required for world class project depends on the station and population. As per Dimapur station, 50 acres of land comes under world class project, which is also not available right now,” said the NFR officials.

However, they acknowledged the efforts made by the state government in resolving the land encroachment issue, saying that the formation of a high-level committee in April was a positive move.

The major development project will fall under world class station project and minor development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme (ABSS), clarified the officials, adding that Dimapur is getting bigger chunk of the development agenda.

A press statement from the NFR Chief Public Relations Officer stated that under ABSS, Lanka, Lumding and Dimapur railway stations will be revamped at an estimated cost of INR 30.1 crore, 40.8 crore and 265.6 crore respectively.

The General Manager of NFR inspected the sites of the new station building, crew lobby, foot over bridge, platform and other works for passenger amenities, during his visit to Dimapur Railway Station on Friday. He also said that the railway line to Kohima will be completed by 2026.

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