Pakistan Railways land worth Rs30m retrieved in Punjab

LAHORE: The Pakistan Railways has retrieved illegally occupied 30 marla commercial land of worth Rs 30 million near Basirpur Railway Station, Punjab, according to reports.

Railways teams conducted a raid with the help of Railway and district police near level-crossing C-188 at Basirpur Railway Station, Okara and retrieved land from land grabbers on both sides of the track.

It is pertinent to mention that the land-retrieving campaign has been under way on the direction of Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad in the division under supervision of PR Divisional Superintendent Lahore Sarfaraz Sufyan Dogar.

During a high-level meeting on Sep 13, PM Imran Khan had directed Pakistan Railways (PR) to submit a comprehensive plan for launching an anti-encroachment drive and future utilisation of railways land for generating revenues within 15 days.

Secretary Railways Muhammad Javed Anwar briefed the prime minister in detail about Pakistan Railways and various measures being taken to turn-around the organization into a sustainable and profitable venture.

It was reported Pakistan Railways had over 8,000 acres barren land in Punjab, over 1300 acres in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 260 acres in Sindh and nearly 900 acres land in Balochistan.

The reports further added that Pakistan Railways had leased out over 15,000 acres land for various purposes across the country and more than 3,300 acres land was under encroachments of different government departments and individuals.