Editorial
Proposed action against railway land grabbers
A commendable move by the minister
The interim railway minister's proposed initiative against railway land grabbers and his declaration that he will take action against them no matter who they may be, are commendable. It is, however, a huge task, which has been attempted in the past but with little result.
For years now, of the more than 61,000 acres of railway land across the country, thousands of acres -- over 4,600 acres, according to some news reports quoting top level ministry officials -- have been illegally occupied by influential quarters. Moves to recover the land have most often failed due to intervention by these vested quarters which include political leaders, as well as the non-cooperation of government agencies, while in a few cases where the grabbers were successfully evicted, the land was encroached upon again soon after. In addition, there are people pilfering the resources contained in the lands, such as fuel and iron, and selling them illegally.
We appreciate the railway minister's move, but stress the fact that it will be a long process ridden with obstacles, not least of which is the influence of those in positions of power. We hope that the authorities under his directive will be able to follow it through strictly and in a systematic manner. First, the exact amount and locations of illegally occupied land must be identified. Then stern and uncompromising legal measures must be taken to evict the grabbers. This must be done indiscriminately regardless of who the illegal occupiers may be and whoever may attempt to intervene in the process. Finally, the retrieved land must be put to good use under its originally or newly intended purposes to effectively discourage illegal encroachment in future. As with almost every other sector, the valuable resources of the railway sector are being misused and lost through corruption of the powerful and this must be stopped.
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