Title - Court orders status quo on Hathua-Bhatni rail link

The Allahabad High Court has directed the Railways to maintain status quo on the Hathua-Bhatni rail link, sanctioned in 2005-06, on a petition filed by 500 villagers of Deoria district in Uttar Pradesh challenging acquisition of over 100 acres of land for the project.They said the laying of the line would affect thousands of farmers in about 40 villages.Land acquisition for the project, estimated to cost about Rs.230 crore, began in 2009. This led to protests by farmers across 14 villages of Deoria adjoining Bihar.The petitioners claimed that although the rail line was supposed to connect Bhatni in Deoria district with Hathua in Gopalganj district of Bihar, just 35 km away, its length was pegged at 80 km.This was done, the petition said, to link the then Railway Minister Lalu Prasad’s native village of Phulwaria with his wife and former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi’s village of Salar Kalan. As a result, the proposed Siwan-Hathua-Thawe-Kaptanganj route was changed and a diversion proposed at Hathua. This change was then explained by the Railways on grounds of track-population density.This week, a Division Bench comprising acting Chief Justice Amitava Lala and Justice P.K.S. Baghel directed the respondents to file a counter-affidavit. It also sought replies from the Union Railway Ministry, the Railway Board, North-Eastern Railway, Uttar Pradesh Government and the Deoria District Magistrate within two weeks. The next hearing has been fixed for September 12.