Encroachment removed from Railway land

A piece of Railway property, which had allegedly been encroached upon by the construction company implementing the Sampige Road Metro Station on behalf of Mantri Developers, was recovered in a swift operation conducted by personnel of South Western Railway here on Saturday.

Work on the Swastik (Sampige Road) Metro Station adjacent to Mantri Mall (Square) is being taken up by Mantri Developers based on a controversial public private partnership (PPP) agreement with Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL).

Railway land measuring approximately, 3,800 sq m available adjacent to this location, was allegedly encroached upon by Mantri Developers for carrying out various construction activities such as quality assurance and quality control laboratory, mixer plant, staff canteen, first-aid room, etc., a release said.

Construction material were dumped and stacked on the Railway land unauthorisedly. A barricade with GI sheets mounted on steel pipes was also found at the site. The Railways had asked BMRCL to direct the contractor to vacate the Railway land, but the latter did not respond. Following this, the Railways started the encroachment clearing operation and removed the barricade and dismantled the temporary structures put up erected by Mantri Developers and its associates.

The release also said that South Western Railway learnt that land records had been manipulated by the builder, and when BMRCL had indicated that they had nothing to do with the construction of Swastik (Sampige Road) Metro Station Complex and allied development, immediate steps were taken to carry out the eviction drive.

Divisional Railway Manager Sudhanshu Mani told

The Hindu that the land was being unauthorisedly used and RPF personnel were used for the eviction drive.

BMRCL said that the land was not in any way associated with construction of the station or the viaduct. It is a dispute between the developer and the Railways, which should be resolved through a joint survey, a senior BMRCL official said.

Meanwhile, a Mantri Developers spokesperson said that “the land was purchased from NTC long ago. Both the Railways and Mantri were open to have a survey of the property conducted two days ago. But unfortunately the Railways illegally demolished the steel barricade structures. We are taking legal action.”