Railways builds underpass ‘without permission’ on defence land; Army takes it over

BAREILLY: An underpass was constructed by the railways in 2014 on a 39-metre stretch of defence land, allegedly without permission from Army authorities. Now the defence estate officer (DEO) here has taken possession of the structure, pointing out that several notices had been sent to the railways to stop construction.
The underpass connects the Army camping ground to Bhojipura village.“Moreover, railways constructed a rain shed along one side of the underpass, resulting in waterlogging every monsoon. Besides, railways didn’t take any permission from our office before commencing the construction. Finally, we had a word with the railway authorities on August 8, and on Thursday we took over the structure,” said DEO Pramod Kumar Singh said.
As far as the shed is concerned, the DEO said they were considering options. “We may choose to demolish it, or use it to shelter soldiers during camping or other exercises,” Pramod added.
Divisional engineer of railways AK Singh said, “The work was started as well as completed before my tenure here. In the latest development, the construction on defence land has been handed over to the Army.”
Public relations officer in railways, Rajendra Kumar told TOI, “In 2014, we converted the track from metre gauge to broad gauge. Earlier there was an unmanned level crossing at the spot. In addition to converting the track, railways constructed an underpass, but no defence authorities came up at that time to register their objection. Once the work was completed, Army people started telling us that it was defence land. Ideally, if a government organization knowingly or otherwise carries out any construction, it can’t be termed encroachment.”
Kumar said that now the construction was under Army possession. “It is up to the DEO whether they demolish the shed, which was built for the convenience of the public, or not,” he added.