Title - Railways launches probe into land encroachment

The Railways has begun inquiry into the   unauthorised fencing of a portion of land at the Old Railway Station here in Kochi.Around an acre of the Old railway station land has been allegedly encroached by an outside agency. Railway officials have confirmed that they had not given any orders to fence any part of the land at the station in the recent past.“This is alarming. There has been no orders from our side. I have confirmed it with  the construction engineer, Railways, (Ernakulam), who told me that he has not given any specific instruction to fence any portion of the land. We have asked the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Railway Police to probe the matter,” Ernakulam area Manager P L Ashok Kumar said.He said he does not know anything about land  filling which has taken place at the station (surrounding the railway institute building) recently.The Old Railway Station Vikasana Samithi has  alleged the involvement of private agencies in the encroachment of the land. Samithi general convener Hariharan said that trucks carrying huge loads of earth were seen at the station since November last year. It is probably during that time that the fences were set up. However, it has to be found out who is responsible for creating the barricade at the railway station.The Old railway station which has been lying unused for several years has generally become a waste land. It seems that even the Railways has abandoned the 22-acre land which had once been the life-line of goods and passenger  traffic in Kochi. “Hence, it is not surprising when some other agency starts to encroach the land,” Hariharan said.  Currently, there are demands to restore the  station into a hub of passenger traffic. Passenger associations as well as Vikasana Samithis have written to the authorities concerned regarding the matter.

The station can serve as the hub of suburban traffic. Trains which begin at the Old Railway station can ply towards Edappally and Aluva. Apart from electrification of the stretch between Pachalam (which easily connects to the Edappally railway station) and the Old railway station, all the railway tracks are intact. GCDA chairman N Venugopal said that the GCDA  has appointed a retired railway official to study the potential of developing the Old railway station.