DUDHWA TRACK CLOSURE: REPLY SOUGHT FROM RAILWAYS

LUCKNOW: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Monday directed the concerned railway authorities to file their replies within two weeks in the matter of closure of rail track between Nanpara and Mailani that passed through the Dudhwa National Park.

A division bench of justice Pankaj Kumar Jaiswal and justice Karunesh Singh Pawar passed the above order on February 24 on a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by the Tarai Vikas Sansthan through one Satya Prakash Srivastava against the closure of the said rail track.

Petitioner’s counsel submitted that no order was passed by the court directing the Railways to stop running of trains between Nanpara and Mailani. In spite of that, the public relation officer, NER, had issued a note on January 8, 2020 regarding the closure of rail track. Therefore, the petitioner requests the court for restoration of the rail track in the interest of the common public.

Hence, the court directed the Railways to explain why they had stopped the operation of the train between Nanpara and Mailani and also referring it due to court orders, though no such directions had been given in this connection by the court. The court also directed the Railways to explain as to whether they had taken a final decision to change the alignment so as to redress the inconvenience of the passengers and villagers. The court directed the concerned railways authorities to examine the matter of closure of said rail track in the light of February 17 order.