The South Western Railway's Bangalore Division has evicted Mantri Developers from the 3,800 square metres of land adjacent to the Mantri Mall which had been encroached.

The SWR in a release said, “Adjacent to the Mantri Mall, construction of Swastic Metro Station has been taken up by M/s Mantri Developers or its subsidiaries, through a contract awarded to M/s Simplex Construction Company.”

A large area of Railway land approximately 3,800 sq metres was recently encroached by M/s Mantri Developers for carrying out various construction activities like setting up of quality assurance and quality control lab, mixer plant, staff canteen, first-aid room.

“At many places construction materials were dumped and stacked on the Railway land unauthorisedly. A full-height barricade with GI sheets mounted on steel pipes was also found erected to avoid visibility of the construction area,” said the release.

Railways took up a massive eviction of this encroachment on September 3 and removed complete barricading including dismantling of temporary structures erected in Railway land by M/s Mantri Developer and its associates.

According to a Railway official, a strong action for removal of unauthorised structures and stoppage of work was under consideration for some time, even as informal discussions were on with Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL).

“Subsequently, when it was learnt that land records had been got manipulated quietly by the builder and BMRCL had indicated that they had nothing to do with the construction of Swastik Metro Station Complex and allied development, no time was lost in moving ahead with the eviction drive with immediate effect,” said the release.

“Neither would Railways permit misuse of land by the Builder nor would allow construction activity within 30 mts of Railway boundary without proper “No Objection Certificate” as the whole activity is not only illegal but also unsafe,” release added.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW