KARACHI - Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that the encroachments on the route of Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) during and after 2013 would be bulldozed and those who were settled there before 2013 would be given compensation to launch the project of KCR in September.
He took this decision yesterday while presiding over a meeting on KCR to discuss its issues and progress here at the CM House. The meeting was attended by Minister for Transport Syed Nasir Shah, ACS (Dev) M Waseem, Additional IG Karachi Mushtaq Maher, Secretary Transport Taha Farooqi, Commissioner Karachi Aijaz Ali Khan, Talib Fateh Shaikh PD KUTC, DS railways Karachi, all DCs and other concerned officers.
The chief minister was told that more encroachments were appeared along the route of KCR. Presently around 43.1 kilometres of the route is under encroachment while the encroached length of KCR is 21 kilometres.
The chief minister expressed displeasure over the matter and said that the district administration, police and concerned railways authorities were in slumber when unauthorised people had started illegal constructions on the government land.
“Why you are not giving ownership to government property and why your people remain hand in the glove with the encroachers,” he asked and said categorically “this is unacceptable and I would start accountability of the officers at the helm of affairs for encroachments on government land and damage to the government property.”
Karachi Commissioner Aijaz Ali Khan quoting the survey conducted by Pakistan Railways said that 4950 illegal constructions in the shape of houses and shops have appeared on the route of KCR.
The commissioner said that in District South the railways have not surveyed some portions where around 300 structures have also appeared.
On this the chief minister took a decision and said that the survey conducted by JAICA in 2013 showed that there were about 4600 houses and shops on the route of KCR. This may be taken as a policy decision that the houses or shops constructed before and upto 2013 as mapped by JAICA would be given compensation purely on humanitarian grounds and the encroachments appeared in and after 2013 would be bulldozed only after serving them notices.
“I am not in favour of allowing someone to encroach upon government land and then given them compensation to vacate it,” he said and added “we are treating old cases on humanitarian grounds,” he said.
The chief minister was also informed that in four districts, South, East, Central and West 3173 houses and shops are constructed on upto 75 square yards, 688 are constructed over 75 to 125 square yards and 36 houses/shops are constructed over and above 125 square yards.
Minister Transport Syed Nasir Shah, disclosing anti-encroachment operation, said he worked out that 48 excavators of different functions, 24 dumpers, eight loaders, eight gas cutters, 24 hand drills, 400 labours were required for operation.
The chief minister directed the transport minister to start work on serving notices to people living there illegally and then bulldoze their houses. “I am going to perform ground breaking ceremony of KCR in September or October in which high officials of CPEC would be invited. That would be the beginning of modern Karachi,” he said.
Syed Murad Ali Shah said that district police, Railway police, Anti-encroachment Force, civic utility agencies, government agencies like KPT, NHA, LDA would participate in the operation for which he assigned the task to Transport Minister Syed Nasir Shah.
