eviction drive
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The people who have been living illegally on the Railway land at New Ghat areas of Dhubri town compelled the Railways and district administration authorities to halt its eviction drive on Thursday morning protesting that they were not served prior notice.

The Railway authorities had to halt the eviction drive for a month as the encroachers pleaded to stop the same. The encroachers alleged that they were not served any prior notice by the Railway authorities and the district administration vis-à-vis the eviction drive.

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The local leaders and noted citizens of Dhubri town requested the district administration and the Railway authorities on Thursday to halt the eviction drive for a month as the encroachers “promised to move away on their own and at their own cost within a month”.

RP Gogoi, Senior ADM of Alipurduar Division of Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), who led the eviction drive, told Northeast Now that in Dhubri town alone, over 90 per cent of land belonging to the Railways have been encroached and the eviction is “inevitable sooner or later”.

“We had already served an eviction notice nearly two years back to vacate the Railway land. But, the encroachers have failed to respond to our repeated pleas,” Gogoi added. The Circle Officer of Dhubri, Chief Executive Officer of Dhubri Municipal Board and jawans of Railway Police Force (RPF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and local police were present in full force to carry out the eviction drive.

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The third report on ‘Commercial Utilisation of Vacant Railway Land – Role of Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA)’ tabled by Bhartruhari Mahtab, Chairperson, Railway Convention Committee (2014) tabled on May 10, 2016 before the House has revealed that Northeast Frontier Railway is among the third top railway land encroachment zone of the country as on March 31, 2015 followed by Northern and South Eastern Railways Zone.

 

Mukesh Kr Singh is Northeast Now Correspondent in Dhubri. He can be reached at: [email protected]