Calcutta HC stays demolition of 'unauthorised structures' at Serampore railway station
Telegraph | 1 March 2025
The high court on Thursday imposed an interim stay on a drive by the railways to demolish “unauthorised structures” at Serampore railway station.
The structures are a series of stalls on both sides of the approach road to the station. They sell mainly fruits but some other items as well.
A single-judge bench of Justice Amrita Sinha stayed till March 21 the drive by Eastern Railway to remove the structures at the station.
The court asked the stall owners to meet the divisional railway manager of Howrah division — Serampore station is part of the Howrah division of Eastern Railway — by March 12 and fixed March 13 as the next date of hearing.
The issue is not confined to one station. Such “unauthorised” stalls dot the station compound at many stations, often narrowing the walkway. Till a few years ago, such stalls were common on the concourse and platforms as well. But the railway authorities have ramped up the campaign to remove such structures.
“The platforms are still not free of such illegal stalls but their number has gone down. But the approach roads in several stations are still dotted with such illegal structures,” said an official of Eastern Railway.
A month ago, the Eastern Railway authorities had issued a notification to the alleged encroachers at Serampore station, asking them to vacate the railway land with immediate effect.
In the notification, the railways had also declared that the work to demolish the unauthorised structures would begin from March 1.
A section of stall owners had moved court, seeking the quashing of the notification.
Sanjeev Kumar, the divisional railway manager of Howrah, told The Telegraph: “I am yet to receive a copy of the order. I cannot comment on a specific case, but illegal encroachment of railway land is a major problem.”
He said the problem was more prominent in the Howrah Bandel section, in stations like Serampore, Chandernagore and Seoraphuli.
“The encroachers set up stalls along the approach road, the concourse and parking areas and on the platforms. They cause problems like curbing passengers’ access to the station area and dirtying the premises with litter. They can also hamper train operations as the stalls have been the source of fires in the past,” he said.
The Eastern Railway official said “unauthorised stalls at station premises were becoming a potential threat for the passengers”.
He pointed to a fire that started from an “unauthorised stall” at Ghutiari Sharif station in South 24-Parganas and disrupted train services on the Canning line of the Sealdah South Suburban section on September 8 last year.