At a time when efforts are under way to revive the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR), more Pakistan Railways (PR) lands along the proposed KCR tracks are being occupied by the land mafia in Karachi.
A visit to different areas of the city along the KCR tracks revealed that railway land was being grabbed by the land mafia on a daily basis. In the past week alone, several vacant plots belonging to the PR in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gulistan-e-Jahuar and Malir were occupied along the KCR tracks with concrete structures being erected at a fast pace.
Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Railways Senator Maulana Gul Naseeb had admitted that new encroachments had taken place along the proposed KCR tracks in the city. “I have personally visited several areas in Karachi and found that there are 30 places where the KCR land has been grabbed by political groups and the land mafia,” he said while talking to reporters during his recent visit to Karachi this month. However, he had vowed to raise the issue in Senate.
Currently, the KCR lands are in the possession of the Pakistan Railways and have yet to be handed over to the Karachi Urban Transport Corporation (KUTC). The corporation is working on KCR’s revival with the help of international funding and technical assistance.
Insiders in PR claim that while authorities consider resettlement of encroachers of KCR lands, more encroachments were being carried out by the land mafia and influential political groups who were seeking more compensation from the Pakistan Railways in exchange for vacating the lands.
The environmental impact assessment (EIA) carried out for the KCR project in 2009 had predicted that around 42,000 people would be affected and must be relocated to other areas. However, others beg to differ and say that hundreds of thousands of people would have to be relocated.
“Currently, PR and Sindh government are at loggerheads over the land as the latter claims that it owns the land and had given it to the railways for operational purposes only,” Senator Gul Naseeb Khan told The News.
Officials say that since the KCR project is funded by Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC), the KUTC will have to follow its guidelines for resettlements.
According to sources, the socio-economic survey pertinent to the Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) has also been sought to collect the demographic conditions of the project area. Also, on the basis of 1894 Land Acquisition Act, only legal owners and the tenants registered with the Land Revenue Department or possessing formal lease agreements will be eligible for compensation or livelihood support.
KUTC’s Managing Director Ejaz Khilji told The News that so far the railway lands have not been handed over to the corporation so the occupation of these lands does not concern him or his organisation.
“Currently, these lands are in the possession of Pakistan Railways. It is currently negotiating with various organisations for the re-acquisition of its lands from several other organisations like Karachi Port Trust (KPT), Cantonment Boards and the Pakistan Army,” he maintained.
He, however, was optimistic of KCR’s revival and said, “All stakeholders, including the Sindh government, City District Government Karachi and other land owning authorities in Karachi are doing their best to see that the project materialises.”Khilji said that his organisation was following the guidelines of JICA and donor agencies including JBIC, World Bank and Asian Development Bank for the project.
“We have the EIA of the project approved from the environment protection agency, the re-settlement project is also underway for which CDGK and Sindh government, the satellite imagery of the encroachments along KCR tracks has been done and the feasibility of the project is also complete,” he said.
A visit to different areas of the city along the KCR tracks revealed that railway land was being grabbed by the land mafia on a daily basis. In the past week alone, several vacant plots belonging to the PR in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gulistan-e-Jahuar and Malir were occupied along the KCR tracks with concrete structures being erected at a fast pace.
Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Railways Senator Maulana Gul Naseeb had admitted that new encroachments had taken place along the proposed KCR tracks in the city. “I have personally visited several areas in Karachi and found that there are 30 places where the KCR land has been grabbed by political groups and the land mafia,” he said while talking to reporters during his recent visit to Karachi this month. However, he had vowed to raise the issue in Senate.
Currently, the KCR lands are in the possession of the Pakistan Railways and have yet to be handed over to the Karachi Urban Transport Corporation (KUTC). The corporation is working on KCR’s revival with the help of international funding and technical assistance.
Insiders in PR claim that while authorities consider resettlement of encroachers of KCR lands, more encroachments were being carried out by the land mafia and influential political groups who were seeking more compensation from the Pakistan Railways in exchange for vacating the lands.
The environmental impact assessment (EIA) carried out for the KCR project in 2009 had predicted that around 42,000 people would be affected and must be relocated to other areas. However, others beg to differ and say that hundreds of thousands of people would have to be relocated.
“Currently, PR and Sindh government are at loggerheads over the land as the latter claims that it owns the land and had given it to the railways for operational purposes only,” Senator Gul Naseeb Khan told The News.
Officials say that since the KCR project is funded by Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC), the KUTC will have to follow its guidelines for resettlements.
According to sources, the socio-economic survey pertinent to the Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) has also been sought to collect the demographic conditions of the project area. Also, on the basis of 1894 Land Acquisition Act, only legal owners and the tenants registered with the Land Revenue Department or possessing formal lease agreements will be eligible for compensation or livelihood support.
KUTC’s Managing Director Ejaz Khilji told The News that so far the railway lands have not been handed over to the corporation so the occupation of these lands does not concern him or his organisation.
“Currently, these lands are in the possession of Pakistan Railways. It is currently negotiating with various organisations for the re-acquisition of its lands from several other organisations like Karachi Port Trust (KPT), Cantonment Boards and the Pakistan Army,” he maintained.
He, however, was optimistic of KCR’s revival and said, “All stakeholders, including the Sindh government, City District Government Karachi and other land owning authorities in Karachi are doing their best to see that the project materialises.”Khilji said that his organisation was following the guidelines of JICA and donor agencies including JBIC, World Bank and Asian Development Bank for the project.
“We have the EIA of the project approved from the environment protection agency, the re-settlement project is also underway for which CDGK and Sindh government, the satellite imagery of the encroachments along KCR tracks has been done and the feasibility of the project is also complete,” he said.
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