Anand Nagar-Ghughuli: Centre proposes 3.1384 ha acquisition

The Centre has declared its intention to acquire 3.1384 hectares in Uttar Pradesh’s Maharajganj district for the 52.70 km Anand Nagar-Ghughuli railway line via Maharajganj, according to the Ministry of Railways’ notification S.O. 5696(E), dated 15 October 2026. The notice gives people with an interest in the listed land 30 days from its publication in the Official Gazette to object to the proposed acquisition and use.

Issued at Gorakhpur by North Eastern Railway’s Construction Organisation, the notification appears in the Gazette of India issue dated 19 October 2026. It covers land in Pharenda and Sadar tehsils and identifies the route as a special railway project.

The ministry has invoked Section 20A(1) of the Railways Act, 1989, the provision for declaring an intention to acquire land for such a project. The notification states that the Central Government is satisfied that the scheduled land is required for a public purpose.

This is an acquisition-intent notice, not a compensation award or an announcement that possession has been taken. Its immediate effect is to identify the proposed land and provide an opportunity for objections. The ministry’s schedule describes land to be acquired with or without structures; it does not give a count of affected households or buildings.

Land listed across Pharenda and Sadar

The notification’s schedule identifies each entry by tehsil, pargana, village, plot number, proposed acquisition area in hectares and nature of land. These are parcel-specific entries, rather than proposals to acquire entire villages.

Sidhwari in Pharenda tehsil has the largest village subtotal in the schedule: 0.9779 hectares across 33 entries. Most are classified as agricultural land, but the schedule also includes chakmarg, or field-access paths; abadi, or habitation land; nayi parti, a fallow-land category; and nali, or drainage land.

The Sidhwari entries illustrate the different kinds of land involved. The ministry lists 0.2135 hectares of agricultural land against plot 1931, 0.0780 hectares of chakmarg against plot 1847 and 0.0180 hectares of habitation land against plot 1795. The proposed areas are attached to individual plot numbers and should not be read as statements of those plots’ full size.

Elsewhere in Pharenda, the schedule lists 0.3402 hectares in Govindpur, 0.0629 hectares in Semradadi and 0.2170 hectares in Ramnagar. Those entries are classified as agricultural land.

In Sadar tehsil, the ministry lists 0.4791 hectares in Jungle Dudhai alias Chehri, spread across four agricultural-land entries. Other village subtotals include 0.2248 hectares in Mahuawa, 0.2137 hectares in Tarkulwa and 0.2017 hectares in Varva Vidyapati.

The Sadar entries also cover 0.1266 hectares in Gaunariya Babu, 0.0856 hectares in Rudhauli Bhavchak and 0.0596 hectares in Siswa Amahwa, according to the schedule. Smaller areas are listed in Ghaghrua Khadesar, Dharampur, Shikarpur, Siswa Babu, Rampur, Padri Buzurg, Darauli and Maniyar Chhapra.

The schedule’s grand total relates only to the land covered by this notification. The ministry does not describe it as the total land requirement for the entire railway line. Nor does the document set out the acquisition status of every parcel along the route.

Written objections and a hearing

The notification identifies the Special Land Acquisition Officer, Maharajganj district, as the competent authority, meaning the official responsible for receiving and deciding objections under this notice.

Under the procedure stated in the notification, any person interested in the scheduled land may object under Section 20D(1), which concerns objections to acquisition and use. An objection must be submitted in writing and must state its grounds. The notice does not restrict the opportunity to people described as registered owners.

The authority must give the objector an opportunity to be heard either personally or through a legal practitioner. After hearing objections and conducting any further inquiry considered necessary, the authority may allow or disallow them by an order, the notification states.

The ministry also cites Section 20D(3), under which the authority’s order on objections is described as final. The notice does not announce any decisions on objections to these parcels or specify individual hearing dates.

The distinction between the notification’s issue date and Gazette publication matters because the ministry ties the 30-day objection period to publication in the Official Gazette, not to the date on which the notice was signed. The document does not print a separate calendar date as the last day for objections.

The Railways Act text published by the Railway Board places acquisition declarations, determination of compensation, payment and possession under separate provisions in its chapter on land acquisition for special railway projects. The present notification does not state a compensation rate, payment schedule, construction deadline or date for starting train services.

For the precise location and extent of the proposed acquisition, the notification says land plans and other details are available at the competent authority’s office and may be inspected there by interested persons.