Karachi: The authorities concerned have issued a final warning to traders and other people who raised illegal structures along the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) to vacate the land ahead of an anti-encroachment drive, a news source reported. A team comprising Railways officials, members of the district administration, and security personnel will launch the drive on Tuesday.
The department along with the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) and District Municipal Corporation (South) have identified the Gharibabad furniture market as the first site for the drive.
Following the Supreme Court’s orders, the civic bodies had 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 at market rates. 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 that depended on the availability of funds.
