CM Murad Ali Shah reviews progress on KCR project

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Thursday directed authorities concerned to resolve land issues for the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project, ARY News reported.

The chief minister issued these directives while chairing a meeting related to KCR.

Addressing the meeting, Karachi Circular Railways (KCR) project is vital for addressing traffic issues of the city.

He further said that the Sindh government is taking steps for early start of the project and directed officials concerned that documentation of the project be completed at earliest.

The chief minister further directed them to resolve the land issue for the project and expressed the hope that work on the project will soon be started after getting it approved from China and Pakistan joint working group.

Earlier in April, it emerged that Pakistan has asked China to expedite work on $2bn Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) and $10 billion Mainline-1 (ML-1) — the 1,872km railway track as agreed between the leadership of the two nations in November.

According to a statement released by the Ministry of Planning and Development, Pakistan “requested strong support of National Development and Reforms Commission (NDRC) and other relevant Chinese government institutions to advance implementation of important projects like ML-1, KCR and key energy projects in line with the leadership consensus.”

During Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Beijing last year, the Chinese political leadership agreed to fast-track processing for ML-1 by immediately triggering their respective teams.

KCR project

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) last year in November approved Rs292.4 billion funds for the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project with a foreign share of Rs263 billion.

The project envisages the construction of 44-kilometre-long and dedicated track of modern urban Railway in Karachi starting from Drigh road, passing through areas including Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Federal B area, Liaquatabad, North Nazimabad, Nazimabad, SITE, and Liyari, according to the state news agency.