Karachi: The Sindh government and the Pakistan Railways on Wednesday mutually decided on a framework for the provision of funds for the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project, a news source reported. As per the publication, this decision was made during a meeting between Chief Minister (CM) Sindh Murad Ali Shah and Federal Minister for Railways Shaikh Rasheed.
The CM revealed that the Sindh government was committed to developing the KCR project and would provide 15 percent of the KCR expenses; amounting to PKR 40 billion. He added that the provincial government was also considering compensating the 4600 people who are to be affected by the implementation of the project.
Minister Shaikh Rasheed stated that encroachments along the KCR route had been successfully removed, and check posts had also been built. He later told the media that the railway authorities would remove illegal structures and encroachments in the 50-feet area along the railway track as well. He added that the KCR was a China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Project and would be initiated whenever China released the USD 2 billion funds required for its completion.
Previously, the Supreme
Court had ordered that KCR should be operationalized within three months, and had
also directed the authorities concerned to initiate an anti-encroachment
campaign near the KCR tracks against illegal structures.
