Anti-encroachment drive on Karachi Circular Railway starts from tomorrow

KARACHI: The operation against encroachments on the land allotted for the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) will start from Tuesday (tomorrow), announced Joint Director of Land and Railway Imtiaz Siddiqui.

As per details, the drive was scheduled to kick off from Monday (today), however, it has been delayed by a day in order to more facilitate the people residing there to vacate the shops and homes, said the official.

While talking to the media, the joined director informed that the authorities would now initiate the operation from the furniture market in Karachi’s Ghareebabad area. “We don’t want anyone to suffer any losses and people have already been issued notices,” he added.

The official noted that nearly 1,200 encroachments stood intact on the land allocated for abandoned project of railway.

A day earlier, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui met the Sindh Governor Imran Ismail and expressed concerns over ongoing anti-encroachment drive in Karachi.

It is pertinent to mention here that Prime Minister Imran Khan, on December 5, had directed the attorney general of Pakistan to file a review petition on the top court’s order to remove all encroachments across the metropolis.

The Supreme Court on October 27 had directed Mayor Karachi, Wasim Akhtar, to remove all encroachments from the city’s amenity plots and pavements with the help of law enforcement agencies, and granted a 15-day deadline to city authorities for compliance of its orders.