The railway board on Thursday denied that railway minister Laloo Prasad Yadav had said that the settlers along the tracks between Ballygunge and Tollygunge would not be evicted till land was provided to rehabilitate them.

The railway ministry also claimed that the minister did not make any statement before the parliamentary standing committee to the effect that his department would provide land to the settlers.

The ministry is even ready to produce the recording of a meeting by Yadav to prove that he had not made any statements there on providing land to the settlers.

?The minister had said that excess railway land can be used for commercial purposes. Some sections of the media had wrongly reported that Yadav had promised to provide land for the settlers? rehabilitation,? a ministry source told Metro on Thursday.

According to the source, the ministry lawyer would clarify its stand in regard to allotment of land to the settlers before the division bench hearing the eviction suit on Friday.

On July 15, the division bench had asked the railways to file an affidavit stating elaborately its stand on the issue of providing land.

Newspaper reports and statements made by state advocate-general Balai Ray before the court had given the division bench the impression that the railways would provide land for the squatters. A series of orders were issued based on that assumption.

When the railway ministry informed the court that the department had no policy on providing land for settlers, the court asked the railway minister to clear his stand first.

The eviction of squatters along the Rabindra Sarobar is a long-standing issue. The high court had earlier stated that the squatters would have to leave for the sake of the Lakes.

The apex court upheld the decision. But the orders could not carried out as the state government feared protests by the settlers.

The government is likely to clarify on Friday the statements by the advocate-general.