ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday directed Pakistan Railways (PR) to submit a comprehensive plan for launching anti-encroachment drive and future utilisation of railways land for generating revenues within 15 days.
He said this while chairing a briefing on Ministry of Railways in Islamabad.
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.
He also apprised about the issue of thousands of acres of encroached land of Pakistan Railways worth billions of rupees.
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Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed and other senior officials of the ministry were also present at the briefing.
Sources in the ministry said 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 sources said 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.
They said PR was planning to utilise its nearly 11,000 acres barren land across the country, by executing various projects to earn more revenue for the department.
PR with the help of China Railways will expand its existing network hence reaching to the remote parts of the country, said the minister for railways said earlier.
“We are all set to bring about a revolution in Railway sector with the help of China”, he said
He said in clear and firm tone that the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project had all their support as no one was against the gigantic plan.
He said that work on rail link between provincial capital of Balochistan – Quetta and the port city of Gawadar would be carried out with the aim to provide direct link between both the economically important stations.
He said that efforts are in hand to make the train network financially viable by overcoming the current financial deficit of Rs 42 billion.
On corruption in the mega organization, he said “We will work with zero tolerance approach in the sector and all those found involved in this menace would be brought to book.”
