Islamabad: The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday directed the federal government to operationalise the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project within a time frame of three months, a news source reported. As per the publication, the apex court also set a two-year timeline for the completion of the Mainline-1 (ML-1) project.
A three-judge SC bench, headed by Chief Justice (CJ) Gulzar Ahmed, resumed the hearing of a case regarding the losses announced by the Pakistan Railways. Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umer and Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid appeared before the bench during the hearing.
The CJ stated that the federal executive and the Pakistan Railways should operationalise KCR within a time frame of one month and make it fully operational within three months. To this effect, Sheikh Rashid informed the bench that 85 percent of the KCR track had been cleared and some of the encroachments were demolished the previous day.
In
response, the bench stated that the five-kilometre-long KCR track should be
cleared of illegal structures and directed the authorities concerned to seek
the assistance of police and Rangers on this front.
The
apex court adjourned the hearing till February 21.
