Metro Railway sent a team to hand eviction notices to alleged encroachers on a patch of land outside Bansdroni Metro station on Thursday.

The team could only serve a notice on one alleged occupant before being forced to retreat in the face of resistance from residents.

“We could serve notice on only one encroacher. We want an amicable solution to the problem. But we also want the railway land back. We are hopeful that with the help of the local administration, we will be able to solve the problem peacefully,” said a Metro official.

In Thursday’s edition, this newspaper reported that the construction of a power substation has long been stalled because of the alleged encroachment on a piece of land outside Gate No. 2 of Masterda Surya Sen Metro station.

A substation receives power from the CESC and feeds it to stations.

A bus stand, a parking for two-wheelers, a series of shanties and some makeshift shops now stand on the land, off NSC Bose Road that connects Tollygunge and Garia.

The eviction notice read: “The premise will be required for construction of Metro railway developmental work. You are therefore advised to dismantle the unauthorised hutment/structure and take away your belongings by your own and vacate the Railway premise by 25.06.2025 failing which Metro Railway will dismantle the unauthorised hutment/structure on any date after 25.06.2025 without giving any further intimation to you.”

“Metro Railway will not be responsible if any loss occurred to your belongings during the course of dismantling of the structures,” it said.

The land measures around 4,000 square metres, said a Metro official.

The 205 bus stand is on the plot. It is a popular route between Bansdroni and Babughat via Park Street.

The north-south Metro corridor (Blue Line) was extended beyond Tollygunge to Garia in 2009.

“Earlier, the buses would be parked on NSC Bose Road. It narrowed the carriageway and slowed the traffic,” a resident told Metro on Wednesday.

Nitai Samaddar, president of the bus syndicate, said they were assured by local MLA and senior Trinamool minister Aroop Biswas that they could park their buses there.

Multiple calls to Biswas went unanswered.

“A group of around 12 people came to serve us the eviction notice. They said we had to vacate the land by June 25,” said Rinki Mondol, who lives in one of the shanties and is the only one to have been served the notice.

Biswanath Guha, a 65-year-old man who works as a security guard at a residential building in the neighbourhood, said: “Where are we going to live if we are told to vacate this place?”

On Tuesday, P. Uday Kumar Reddy, the Metro general manager, visited the site, accompanied by senior officials of the carrier.