Nagpur: With Central Railway planning for 4th line on Itarsi-Nagpur route, the slum-dwellers at Dobi Nagar, Mominpura, are in trouble. The Railway authorities at Nagpur Division have issued notices to the slum-dwellers to vacate land. As per rules, the encroachers on Railway land have been issued notices. Railways has provided time till February 15 to the slum-dwellers or otherwise they will be evicted, media reports said.
For a long, Railways turned a blind eye towards encroachment on its land, but now, with the capacity addition programme being implemented in full earnest, new projects are being eyed now. In that process, Central Railway is already planning to conduct a survey for the 4th line and in that process, Dobi Nagar land is being sought to be vacated. Nearly 1,500 families reside in the area and the residents said, they have been residing since 1964 and qualify for protection as per rules framed by Maharashtra Government , granting permission to slums till year 2000.
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Friday 07March 2025
The Dobi Nagar residents met with Railway officials and sought protection from eviction but they refused to provide any assurance. Incidentally, the Railway Ministry in the past had stopped eviction of slum dwellers from Jat Tarodi No. 1, 2 and 3, Dhamma Nagar and Kafila Vasti when the local authorities had issued them notices to vacant the land. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis took up the matter with Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav and got a stay order from Divisional Railway authorities.
Unease prevails among slum-dwellers at Dobi Nagar as they have not got any backing from local political leaders and hence, any day, they feel, Railways might evict them from the land. Peeved by the Railways’ notice, the residents of Dobi Nagar addressed a press conference and said they would be approaching court seeking rehabilitation of slum-dwellers before their eviction.
Nazir Farhat, President, Dobinagar Sangharsha Samiti, said the people have been residing at the slum since last 60 to 70 years and showed receipts of Property Tax paid to Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC). Also, the people are regularly paying their electricity bills and said, NMC has notified it as a slum and spent crores of rupees on development works. Nearly 25,000 people reside in their locality and earn their livelihood by doing odd jobs.
The Samiti has already submitted a memorandum to Additional Divisional Railway Manager (ADRM), Central Railway, Nagpur Division, who is acting Divisional Railway Manager, to Municipal Commissioner and Administrator, Commissioner of Police seeking rehabilitation of slum dwellers at alternative place. Farhat also informed that, erstwhile ruling family of Nagpur, the Bhonsles have also staked claim to the Dobi Nagar land apart from the State Government.
