Chunar-Chopan railway doubling: Land acquired, claims invited

The Centre has notified the acquisition of 0.8906 hectare of land in Uttar Pradesh’s Mirzapur district for the 101 km Chunar-Chopan railway doubling project, according to a Ministry of Railways notification published on 27 October 2026. The declaration provides for the land to vest in the Central Government on publication and gives interested persons 20 days from publication to submit claims.

Notification S.O. 5804(E), dated 15 October 2026, was issued by North Central Railway’s Construction Organisation. It covers land required for the execution, maintenance, management and operation of the special railway project.

Citing Section 20E(1) of the railway land-acquisition provisions, the ministry declares that the land in the attached schedule shall be acquired. Under Section 20E(2), the notification states, that land vests absolutely in the Central Government, free from encumbrances – existing burdens or claims over the property.

This is an acquisition declaration, not merely a proposal to acquire land. However, the notification’s Hindi and English versions name different offices for receiving claims, leaving a consequential discrepancy in the procedure described for affected people.

From acquisition proposal to declaration

The ministry’s notification records that the Centre first declared its intention to acquire the land through S.O. 1538(E), dated 19 March 2026 and published in the Gazette of India on 24 March 2026. That earlier step was taken under Section 20A(1), the provision invoked for announcing the proposed acquisition.

According to the October notification, the substance of the earlier notice was published in Amar Ujala and The Times of India on 8 April 2026 under Section 20A(4). The Gazette therefore records separate stages: the initial notification, its Gazette publication and the subsequent newspaper notices.

The Hindi version of the October declaration states that the competent authority received objections and disposed of them. It does not describe the objections, identify the issues raised or explain the authority’s decisions on them. The corresponding English passage records the submission of the authority’s report but does not include the statement about objections.

Both versions state that the competent authority submitted its report to the Central Government. The ministry identifies receipt of that report as the basis for issuing the acquisition declaration under Section 20E(1).

The sequence matters because the March notice and the October declaration have different stated effects. The former announced an intention to acquire; the latter declares acquisition and ties the transfer of the scheduled land to publication in the official Gazette.

Agricultural land across three villages

The notification’s schedule lists private agricultural land across three villages, with a total acquisition area of 0.8906 hectare. It describes the land covered as being with or without structures, but does not provide a separate inventory or valuation of buildings.

Dhaoha accounts for 0.5101 hectare in the schedule, while Samudawa accounts for 0.3075 hectare. The remaining village entry covers 0.0730 hectare. These are the areas specified in this declaration, rather than a statement of the entire land requirement for the railway project.

The schedule associates individual land entries with owners or interested persons. It does not state an aggregate compensation amount, a valuation rate or a payment date. Its operative text instead invites claims under Section 20F(4).

Nor does the acquisition declaration give a construction completion date or a timetable for opening the doubled line. The documented development is the acquisition of the listed land, not the completion or commissioning of the railway works.

Project history predates the land declaration

The Ministry of Railways described an earlier stage of the project in its answer to Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2049 on 23 December 2022. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the Chopan-Chunar doubling project had been included in Budget 2020-21, subject to the requisite government approvals.

The minister’s answer put the route length at 101 km and the approximate cost in the detailed project report – the project’s technical and cost assessment – at Rs 1,424 crore. At that point, he said, the project had not been sanctioned, so no commencement timeline could be fixed.

That was the position reported in December 2022, not a description of its status today. The December 2023 IRICEN Journal of Civil Engineering subsequently reproduced an International Railway Journal report listing Chopan-Chunar doubling among projects approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs. The item described doubling as adding a track alongside an existing line.

Neither historical account establishes a current project cost or completion deadline. The October 2026 Gazette declaration supplies the more specific development now affecting the scheduled land in Mirzapur.

Claims notice names two different offices

The October notification says interested persons may submit claims personally, through an agent or through a legal practitioner within 20 days of publication, at the competent authority’s office.

But the Hindi text identifies that authority as the Land Acquisition Officer (Irrigation), Mirzapur. The English text names the Land Acquisition Officer (Joint Organisation), Prayagraj.

Both versions appear in the same notification. The document does not reconcile the two designations or specify which office controls the claims process, leaving the receiving authority unclear within the published notice itself.