Parliament Question: Management of Encroached Railway Land

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2905 TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.08.2026 MANAGEMENT OF ENCROACHED RAILWAY LAND 2905. ADV K. FRANCIS GEORGE: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) the details of the criteria and procedure including the use of surveys and digital mapping adopted by the Government for identifying and classifying railway land under encroachment; (b) the details of encroachments on railway land, including residential, commercial, institutional and other occupations, category-wise; (c) whether any mechanism exists for individuals or communities to seek review or appeal against classification of land as encroached and if so, the details thereof; (d) the details of the number of representations, grievances, appeals and court cases relating to railway land encroachments received during the last three years along with the number of cases disposed of and pending; and (e) whether the Government proposes to establish a transparent digital land information and grievance redressal system for verification of railway land records and resolution of disputes and if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (e): Any unauthorised or illegal occupation of railway land that involves temporary or permanent structure is treated as soft and hard encroachment respectively. Regular surveys involving inspections, demarcations and periodical verification of the railway land boundaries are carried out by railway administration and accordingly land records are updated. § Page 1 of 2Indian Railways works closely with state revenue authorities to ensure continuous verification and updation of land records wherever required. For maintaining data of total land holding under various usages, including track and structure, plantation/afforestation/cultivation, commercial licensing, vacant land, encroachment and other usages, land asset management system is being used. The vacant railway land is utilized for infrastructural development viz., Multi Tracking, Railway Workshops, New Passenger Terminals, Cargo Terminals, etc., as per operational needs. Land, which is not immediately required by Railways, is entrusted to Rail Land Development Authority for commercial utilization. As on 31.03.2026, Indian Railways owns approximately 5.01 lakh hectares of land, out of which about 0.21% (1062.08 ha) of railway land is under encroachment. During the last five years, about 98.02 ha of railway land has been reclaimed from encroachments. Section 9 of the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971, provides for an appeal that can be preferred against the order of an Estate Officer before a District Judge. Disposal of representations and appeals on Indian Railways is a continuous process. During the last three years, a total of 3110 court cases have been received, out of which, 1267 have been disposed of. Additionally, the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS), an online platform, is also available to citizens for lodging grievances including those connected with land. ***** Page 2 of 2