Karachi: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Gulzar Ahmed has ordered the Sindh government to restore the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) track within a week’s time frame by removing all encroachments from its reserved land area, a news source reported.
The circular railway is a looping network of several
stations that will connect various parts of the city. The project was closed
down two decades ago. Since then, the railway land has remained encroached.
A three-judge bench presided by CJP Gulzar, and comprising
Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, heard the case pertaining to
the restoration of KCR in the Supreme Court’s Karachi Registry.
Karachi Police Chief Ghulam Nabi Memon, Mayor Waseem Akhtar and Sindh Chief Secretary Mumtaz Ali Shah appeared before the court.
During the hearing the Sindh Advocate General explained that
there were 24 KCR gates and most of these were encroached and the land was to
be provided by the Ministry of Railways. The chief justice directed the Karachi
Commissioner to remove all encroachments from the land belonging to the
Pakistan Railways.
The CJP issued similar instructions to Mayor Akhtar wherein
he directed him to demolish whatever was needed to restore KCR to its original
form.
