Off-track business: Western Railway staff quarters in Parel house eateries & hotels, says plaint

Railway staffers' homes in Parel are being run as makeshift diners for many moons now, according to a written grievance received by the general manager of Western Railway.

Diners, food stalls and catering services have set up shop in the tenement colony meant to lodge rail staff near WR's Parel workshop. And business is brisk, given that freshly raised skyscrapers in the Parel-Elphinstone Road business district are thronged by office crowds and working classes who eat out or order in more often than not.

All this is part of the complaint submitted by a railway employee, who did not wish for his name to become public, to WR general manager AK Gupta.

Many of the tenement rooms have been declared unsafe, the letter states, without getting into the specifics of when, by whom and to what extent. They continue to be used by workers at the nearby rail yard.

'The rooms here are illegally run as hotels preparing and selling Chinese food, biryani, juices, food, apart from housing other commercial services. The owners of these rooms are recovering monthly rents in the range of Rs 25,000-30,000,' says the letter says, a copy of which is in DNA's possession.

Railway staff residing at the colony backed the complaint. "We pay a nominal rent based on the square footage. But some have wrongly and illegally rented out these rooms for business activities. Other railway staff who reside in this colony are suffering because of the nuisance this has created," they said.

The commercial outlets run till late night. When DNA visited the place, the residential quarters barely resembled one amid the hectic business activity.

The letter further alleges that the unauthorised sub-letting points to collusion between certain rail officials residing at the colony and their illegal tenants, who are known to intimidate those who try to object to the arrangement or complain to the administration.

'We request the administration that they carry out thorough checks of the railway colonies so as to prevent such activities,' says the letter, which was written in April. It has come to light now that the WR officials's vigilance department has started conducting surprise inspections to verify the claims it makes.

The WR officials said inquiries and checks at many other rail colonies including at Bandra and Khar began a few days ago, to put a stop to "unwarranted, unscrupulous" activities.

WR's chief public relations officer Ravinder Bhakar said: "If any such irregular activities are observed, then the strictest action will be taken."

HOUSE BIZ

The railway colony, facing Indiabulls complex in Parel, has doubled up as a rundown food mall for more than the past two years, ever since Prabhadevi gained favour as a commercial hub.