The Northern Railways has issued evacuation notices to Delhi’s two prominent mosques — Bengali Market Mosque and Babar Shah Takiya Mosque asking them to remove them within 15 days.

The railway authorities have warned that “if the encroachments are not removed within the stipulated time-frame within 15 days, they will take necessary action to reclaim their land.” Besides, the railway authorities has issued notice to the adjacent office of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for Malaria, demanding the evacuation of the premises.

The notice issued to the mosques read: “Railway property has been illegally invaded upon. You must voluntarily dismantle any unlicensed structures, including temples, mosques or shrines within 15 days of receiving this alert or the railway administration will take legal action.” “Encroachments that are not permitted will be removed in compliance with the Railways Act. Any damage incurred throughout the procedure will be your responsibility. The railway administration won’t be held accountable,” it added.

A Northern Railways (NR) spokesperson said the structures are on railway land along the main route between New Delhi and Ghaziabad.The Babar Shah Takiya Mosque’s secretary, Abdul Gaffar, claimed that the mosque is nearly 400 years old.

According to railway officials, the process of removal of encroachments from railway land begins with issuing notices to encroachers, giving them a reasonable amount of time, generally 15 days, to remove the encroachments themselves. NR spokesperson Deepak Kumar said, “The NR takes the removal of encroachments on railway land very seriously. Encroachments can pose a safety hazard to railway employees and passengers, and they can also damage railway property.  NR is committed to ensuring that railway land is used for its intended purpose, and the removal of encroachments is an important part of this commitment.”

The officials said if encroachers do not comply, the NR forms a task force to remove the encroachments. They added that the task force includes RPF and local police, and will depend on the availability of manpower, machinery, and support from the local police and administration. They also said it was a general practice in the NR to issue notices to encroachers whenever they come to the attention of the transporter. A senior Delhi Waqf Board official, however, claimed both the Taqia Babar Shah mosque near Tilak Bridge and the one near Bengali Market were properties of the board and termed the notice of demolition “surprising”.

 “In 1973, the Railways had even requested the Delhi Waqf Board for a piece of land on which Masjid Taqia Babar Shah is located and 94 square yards of land was given to them.  The mosque is a Waqf Board property and it was surprising that Railways was serving notice for its demolition,” Mehfooz Mohammad said.