A new slum colony is rapidly emerging on abandoned railway land near Bandra Terminus, with makeshift tents and huts appearing along Ghas Bazar Road. The land, originally intended for the fifth and sixth railway corridor, has been lying unused since the project was scrapped just hours before its inauguration in 2018. (Pics/Rajendra B. Aklekar)
Updated on : 11 March,2025 12:47 PM IST | Compiled by : Anisha Shrivastava
Western Railway’s Chief Public Relations Officer, Vineet Abhishek, stated that action would be taken against the encroachments and efforts would be made to secure the land with fencing.
Rajiv Singal, a member of WR Mumbai’s Divisional Railway Users’ Consultative Committee, criticised the Railways for failing to protect its property, suggesting that the encroachment could not have occurred without internal complicity. Singal emphasised that the Railway Protection Force (RPF) should have secured the land with fences and walls to prevent unauthorised occupation.
RTI activist Anil Galgali expressed concern over the Railways’ consistent failure to defend its land in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, warning that this sets a dangerous precedent. Galgali urged the Railways to take immediate action before the colony expands further, cautioning that legal battles could complicate future recovery efforts. With land prices in Mumbai at a premium, the loss of strategically located railway property near Bandra Terminus could have significant long-term implications for transport infrastructure and urban planning.
