Western Railway clears 90% of Garib Nagar encroachments on day three of drive | Mumbai News
3 min readMay 21, 2026 09:22 PM IST
A day after clashes broke out at Garib Nagar in Bandra East during Western Railway’s anti-encroachment drive, after authorities demolished two mosques in the area along with other structures including houses that were termed as encroachment, the Western Railway on Thursday continued with its drive clearing nearly 90% of the encroached railway land.
Following the demolition activity, technical railway staff began manually dismantling softer structures at the site. Apart from 250 technical personnel, the operation saw the deployment of more than 500 Mumbai Police officials, 200 Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel, and 250 Railway Protection Force (RPF) staff.
Around 13 heavy machines, including JCBs and bulldozers were used for the exercise. Since Wednesday, authorities have removed more than 80 metric tonnes of debris through 40 dumper truck trips. Officials said debris clearance will progress over the next two days of the drive.
The demolition operation also continued through Wednesday night, with more than 300 personnel, including 250 security staff and 50 technical workers, engaged in post-demolition work and debris removal.
Separately, railway authorities on Thursday demolished two illegal structures near the Bandra Terminus area.
The five-day drive, which began on May 19, seeks to remove around 500 illegal structures spread across 5,200 square metres of encroached railway land near Bandra East railway station. The action follows an April 2026 order of the Bombay High Court permitting Western Railway to proceed with the demolition of unauthorised constructions while safeguarding the interests of eligible slum dwellers identified in the 2021 surveys.
However, officials indicated that the process is expected to continue beyond the scheduled five days. After the demolition phase concludes, railway authorities will undertake barricading and fencing work at the cleared site to prevent fresh encroachments and resettlement on railway lands.
Railway officials said measures were being taken to minimise inconvenience to affected residents. “We are prepared to address any humanitarian concerns that may arise during this exercise and have deployed adequate manpower after assessing all possible scenarios. Western Railway has also distributed over 2,000 water bottles and ready-made meals to dwellers in need,” said Vineet Abhishek, Chief Public Relations Officer, Western Railway.
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Officials said the cleared land, estimated to be worth around Rs 600 crore, will be utilised for the proposed Integrated Bandra Railway Complex aimed at augmenting capacity at the Bandra Terminus.
