Sindh govt bound to remove encroachments on KCR track: Rasheed

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed on Thursday summoned an emergency meeting in the wake of the Supreme Court’s directives with regard to restoration of the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR).

In a video message, he said that a meeting has been summoned on May 11 (Saturday) in Lahore to discuss and work out a plan for implementation of the apex court’s directives.

Rasheed said it is the legal and constitutional responsibility of the Sindh government to remove encroachments on the KCR tracks and come up with a plan how it will rehabilitate the people who will be affected by the anti-encroachment operation within a year.

He said out of a total of 46 acres KCR track, the railways is bound to clear 20 acres track of encroachments, out of which it had already cleared nine acres while the remaining would be cleared within the deadline set by the apex court for the task.

The minister said the railway is ready to give its 60 per cent share in the KCR to the Sindh government.

Earlier today, expressing displeasure over non-implementation of its orders, the Supreme Court once again directed the authorities concerned to restore the Karachi Circular Railway within a month.

The direction came during the hearing of a case pertaining to encroachments in the metropolis.

Justice Gulzar Ahmed, who headed a bench of the apex court at its Karachi registry, directed the railways secretary to remove encroachments on the railway lands within a period of two weeks.

“Don’t you know what the order had we passed,” the judge asked, censuring the railways secretary and other officials over their failure to implement the court’s orders.