Wadi Bunder

CSMT

unauthorised structures

Elphinstone Road station overbridge

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal

Churchgate

166 unauthorised constructions identified; Move comes on High Court’s directives.The Central Railway (CR) has decided to demolish all unauthorised religious structures on railway premises in Mumbai division and has identified 166 such properties.The decision follows the Bombay High Court’s November order that called for removal of all such illegal constructions.“As per the court’s directives, we prepared a list of unauthorised religious structures on railway premises, including railway housing colonies and railway workshops all over Mumbai division,” said a CR official.The CR has published a list of these structures in newspapers and appealed to those associated with the functioning of these religious places to submit their request or objections. Sources said that of the 166 unauthorised religious structures, a few are decades old.Of these unauthorised structures, more than three dozen are located in Kalyan section, 12 in Kurla, 10 in Thakurli section, eight inand four near. Apart from these, several other structures are located in Byculla, Kurla, Mankhurd, Kalyan, Panvel, Jaisai, Parel, GTB, Dadar and Thane sections. “We didn’t want to hurt religious sentiments of the people, but we decided to go ahead with the decision for the safety of passengers,” said an officer, adding that the high court had also directed that allbe demolished.On Tuesday, the CR published an advertisement in newspapers in the city that said: “The honourable high court has passed the order directing demolition and removal of unauthorised illegal structures situated within the jurisdiction of the government and the municipal corporation. People operating these illegal structures can contact and submit their objections/requests or produce any letter of permission within one month.”When contacted by Mirror, Sunil Udasi, chief public relations officer of Central Railway, also said that the unauthorised religious structures had been identified a per the court’s order and further process was underway.After the stampede at, in a joint meeting chaired byat, several multi- disciplinary teams were formed, which audited the stations on the city’s suburban network and submitted a report.“During the audits of the station premises, many unauthorised structures were found which were creating inconvenience to passengers,” said a railways officer, who was also a part of the disciplinary team.Some of these authorised religious structures are maintained by railway workers themselves, said sources. When asked if the old unauthorised religious structures located near stations too would be demolished, a senior officer said as per the court’s direction, all unauthorised religious structures would be removed. “It does not matter how old they are,” the officer said.