Kota: The Railways declared the construction of the BJP’s district office in Kota as “unauthorised and illegal”, alleging it is coming up on about 3,000 square metres of railway land — putting the ruling party’s own office project at the centre of a land-use dispute.Railway officials said the land, along the 80ft road in Kota city, was leased to the then Urban Improvement Trust (UIT), now the Kota Development Authority (KDA), on July 10, 2008, for 35 years strictly for road construction and public utility purposes, with no permission for commercial or other use.The BJP was allotted the land by the UIT in 2020 for construction of its district office.Senior Divisional Engineer (South), Kota Division, wrote on June 16 to the Assistant Divisional Engineer, Ramganj Mandi, directing legal proceedings over the alleged encroachment. A letter was also sent to the KDA seeking action, Kota Railway PRO Ravinder Lakhara said Saturday.The dispute turns on how much land the Railways owns at the site. The Railways says its land width there is 182.88 metres. The Revenue department, relying on 1982 records and maps, says the railway land width is only 72 metres.Earlier, on April 7, the Senior Section Engineer (South) had written to higher authorities alleging unauthorised construction on railway land near kilometre markers 910/10 to 914/00. A joint survey by the Railways, KDA and Revenue department was conducted on May 14. During the survey, Revenue officials relied on 1982 records, while the Railways cited a joint land plan prepared in 1965 by the Railway and Revenue departments.Rajasthan Urban Development and Housing Minister Jhabar Singh Kharra rejected the Railway claim Saturday and said official ownership records and recent demarcation showed the land belongs to KDA.Kharra said it was unusual for the Railways to claim it had leased the land to UIT Kota, now KDA. He said a joint inspection and physical demarcation by railway officials, the Revenue Department and KDA, based on old land records, found that the land where the BJP office is being built falls under KDA ownership.He has directed KDA officials to hold talks with railway authorities and ask them to produce records supporting their claim. KDA and the Revenue department have also been told to scrutinise their historical records.
