Anti-encroachment drive on KCR land halted on Railways’ appeal: Sindh govt

On the request of the Pakistan Railways, the Sindh government has halted the anti-encroachment operation to clear the land reserved for the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project.

Transport & Mass Transit Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said this on Wednesday while talking to the media during his visit to the Karachi Press Club to hand over a cheque of Rs12.5 million as annual grant by the provincial administration to the press club.

The minister said the Sindh government had started working on the KCR project, as funds for the purpose had been allocated by the chief minister.

“As far as the issue of stopping the anti-encroachment operation is concerned, the provincial administration had received a letter from the Pakistan Railways requesting that we halt the action for the time being because it would affect the people living there.”

He said the people who had been living on the land reserved for the KCR project would be provided with alternative plot for resettlement, but there would be no substitute arrangement for relocating those who had recently made home there.

Nawaz ‘misinformed’

Shah said the provincial government had been working on resolving public transportation issues of the city, adding that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had apparently been misinformed about the under-construction Green Line section of the city’s bus rapid transit project.

“He [Sharif] had issued the statement that the federal government had completed its entire work regarding the Green Line section, but the Sindh administration, which was tasked with constructing [passenger] stations for the project, didn’t carry out its responsibility.”

He said that since the ex-premier was much older than him, he would not speak against him out of respect for him. “I will only say that the federal government is also supposed to construct the stations of the Green Line bus service.”  

Hosting PSL final

The transport minister said the provincial administration had been bearing all the expenses being incurred to host the final match of the third edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in Karachi on March 25.

The Sindh government has reserved Rs210 million for the PSL final’s preparations, while a generous amount has also been provided to the city mayor, added Shah. He appealed to the people of the city to extend maximum cooperation to the government and all the relevant authorities regarding the arrangements being made to host the PSL final. He said the National Stadium in the city was all set to host a cricket match of an international level after a gap of a decade.  

Water & sanitation

Shah said the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board had started working on disposing of municipal waste produced by the city, adding that the people who had complaints of heaps of garbage piling up in their respective localities should inform the provincial government about them.

The provincial administration is quite serious about providing the most essential facility of clean drinking water to the people of the city, added the minister.

He also said it was a good development that former District Malir SSP Rao Anwar had turned himself in, adding that now it was up to the judiciary to decide the case of fake encounter, which led to the murder of Naqeeb Mehsud.