Railways Act, 1989
16. Accommodation works.
(1) A railway administration shall make and maintain the
following works for the accommodation of the owners and occupiers of lands
adjoining the railway, namely:-
(a) such crossings, bridges, culverts and
passages over, under or by the sides of, or leading to or from, the railway as
may, in the opinion of the State Government, be necessary for the purpose of
making good any interruptions caused by the railway to the use of the lands
through which the railway is made; and
(b) all necessary bridges, tunnels, culverts,
drains, water sources or other passages, over, under or by the sides of the
railway of such dimensions as will, in the opinion of the State Government be
sufficient at all times to convey water as, freely from or to the lands lying
near or affected by the railway as it was before the making of the railway or
as nearly as possible.
(2) Subject to the other provisions of this Act, the works
specified in sub-section (1) shall be made at the cost of the railway
administration during or immediately after the laying out or formation of the
railway over the lands traversed and in such a manner as to cause as little
damage or inconvenience as possible to persons interested in the lands or
affected by the works :
Provided that-
(a) a railway administration shall not be required to make any
accommodation works in such a manner as would prevent or obstruct the working
or using of the railway, or to make any accommodation works will respect to
which the owners or occupiers of the lands have been paid compensation in
consideration of their not requiring the said works to be made;
(b) save as hereinafter, in this Chapter, provided, no railway
administration shall be liable to execute any further or additional
accommodation works for the use of the owners or occupiers of the lands after
the expiration of ten years from the date on which the railway passing through
the lands was first opened for public traffic;
(c) where a railway administration has provided suitable
accommodation work for the crossing of a road or stream and the road or stream,
is afterwards diverted by the act or neglect of the person having the control
thereof, the railway administration shall not he compelled to provide any other
accommodation work for the crossing of such road or stream.
(3) The State Government may specify a date for the commencement
of any work to be executed under sub-section (1) and, if within three months
next after that date, the railway administration fails to commence the work or
having commenced it, fails to proceed diligently to execute it the Central
Government shall, on such failure being brought to its notice by the State
Government issue such directions to the railway administration as it thinks
fit.
Explanation.- For the purposes of this section, the
expression "lands" shall include public roads.