Mayor, railways minister blamed for delay in anti-encroachment operation

Sindh Transport Minister Syed Awais Qadir Shah has blamed Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar and Federal Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed for the delay in the completion of an operation that is being carried out to remove encroachments along the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) track.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the transport minister said it was primarily the federal government’s responsibility to remove encroachments from the KCR land in accordance with court orders.

He alleged that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and its allies in the federal government did not want the residents of Karachi to get better public transport facilities. Shah said the Sindh government had always complied with courts’ judgments and would continue to do so in the future.

The transport minister claimed that the Sindh Mass Transit Authority director general, the Karachi commissioner and the police had been fully cooperating with the Railways authorities to remove encroachments from the KCR land. Criticising the federal railways minister, Shah said Rashid had ruined the institution of railways in the country.

“On one side Sheikh Rashid claims that he will launch new train service in the country while on the other side the allies of the present government say that bogies are not available for the purpose. If bogies are not available, how come the federal government will revive the KCR in the city?” the transport minister asked. He said the Sindh government was willing to cooperate with all the relevant institutions to revive the KCR project in Karachi.