Illegal kiosks galore around Ara Rly station

Kumar Rajiv Nayan

Ara : Several illegal kiosks have come up around Ara railway station allegedly in connivance with the Government Rail Police (GRP) and the Railway Protection Force (RPF) causing traffic hazard. Though police have removed encroachments from the campus of Ara railway station, they allowed the encroachers to set up makeshift kiosks along the wall of the railway campus and also on the southern part of the railway station.

Some agents allegedly enjoying patronage from the GRP and RPF realize Rs 200 per set up and the matter came to light when a person told a shopkeeper that he wants to set up a betel shop there. The shopkeeper allegedly told him that he would have to give Rs 200 a daily to a railways personnel at a room at the railway station. The shop can’t be set up without his consent, the shopkeeper said.

The makeshift shops have been constructed at the gate no 4 in the circulating area of Ara railway station and at least 40 kiosks have been installed on the railways land on the  southern side of the station causing inconvenience to the passengers. Whenever any senior officer of the railway visits Ara railway station, these illegal kiosks are removed but as soon as he the officer returns, these kiosks return to their places.

That apart, three- wheelers have also encroached upon a large part of the circulating area of  Ara railway station and also beside the wall of the railway station and on the other side of the road, fruit sellers have encroached the road. The 20 feet wide road has been reduced to just 6 feet wide due to encroachments. Though the railway has allotted separate stand for the three-wheeler, neither the GRP nor RPF personnel bother to take action against these illegal occupants.

When contacted, the GRP and the RPF refuted all the charges and said that they were vigilant and always remove encroachment from the railway station campus. Station Manager, Ara railway station, Sunil Jain said that the railway administration always takes stern action against the illegal occupants.