Traffic crawls through vegetable vendors under Mithapur railway bridge on Sunday (left) and the railway tracks from where the hawkers were evicted a few months back. Pictures by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Vegetable vendors encroaching the land under Mithapur railway bridge have been testing the patience of commuters and throwing an open challenge to the railways to whom the land belongs.

Every morning, vendors have been hawking vegetables under the bridge for several years now but the railways have been unable to solve the impasse. The daily bazaar triggers traffic snarls under the bridge. A roundabout at the spot compounds the problem.

Till a few months back, more than 50 vendors used to sell vegetables sitting on the railway tracks. The railways were forced to construct a wall beside the tracks to avoid any accident. So, the vendors shifted their business from the tracks to under the bridge. Reflecting the commuters’ agony, Manish Sinha, a resident of Kankerbagh, said: “Passing through this road is a big headache for me. Most of the time, the road is clogged and it takes at least 10 to 15 minutes just to wriggle my way out of the traffic.”

Mithapur is also a wholesale market for vegetables. Trucks carrying vegetables park in the middle of the road to unload their consignments.

Another commuter, Mangalam Kumar of R-Block area, said: “Whenever the trucks unload vegetables, the traffic on this road goes for a toss. We have to wait for at least half-an-hour, as the traffic crawls like a tortoise. This cannot be the place to sell vegetables. It is the duty of the railway authorities and the district administration to solve this civic problem.”

The problem has snowballed into a huge cause of concern for the district administration and whichever agency failed to get the land freed from the possession of the vegetable vendors.

When contacted, divisional railway manager, Danapur, East Central Railway (ECR), L.M. Jha told The Telegraph: “We are not sitting quiet over the issue. We have tried to evict them on several occasions but they return to encroach the area after a few days.”

Asked about a permanent solution, Jha said: “Of course, we are working on it. We would come up with an effective plan. Selling vegetables under the railway bridge flouts the rules and regulations of the railways.”

District magistrate N. Saravana Kumar said: “I have to verify this problem with all the details. Only then can I speak on this issue. By tomorrow (Monday), I would be able give proper details about it.”

The vegetable vendors have resorted to a peculiar stance over the issue. “It is the duty of the railways or the district administration to earmark the land for selling vegetables. If not, they can make a separate vegetable vendor zone for us. We are not committing a crime, we are just selling vegetables to people,” said Ram Lal, a vendor.

Asked about encroaching railway land, another vendor, Lalan Kumar, said: “It’s true that we have encroached the land but we do not have any other option. Where would we go? Those who want to displace us from this area must give us some viable alternative. Else, they should not poke their noses into our business.”

The railways have time and again tried to displace the vendors but in retaliation, they stage demonstrations against the railways before taking possession of the place again.