Karachi: Pakistan Railways will initiate a grand operation to retrieve its land along the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) from Monday, a news source reported. The department will first identify the land and then the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) and District Municipal Corporation (South) will carry out the operation.
Following the Supreme Court’s orders, the civic bodies have devised a plan to clear KCR of 10,000 houses illegally constructed on 26 acres of railway land around its 27-kilometre track.
The railways department is also mulling leasing out some of the encroached land on rates at par with market value. This will only be done for the land that the department does not need.
Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed said those who would not pay the lease should vacate the land and that the ministry will not be responsible for the losses. He added that the ministry might compensate people affected by the drive, but only if funds are available.
