Govt asked to rehabilitate people affected by KCR

Civil society and labour rights activists demanded of the Sindh government to fulfil its promise to provide the affected people by the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project with tents and mobile toilets.

On May 9, the Supreme Court gave 15 days’ time to the Pakistan Railways to remove encroachments from the KCR’s right of way and hand it over to the provincial government to start its operations in another 15 days. Soon after the SC order, a major portion of the KCR’s track in Central and East districts was cleared of the encroachments and illegal structures, including houses where people had been living.

Later on June 9, the government promised the people, who had been rendered homeless, to arrange makeshift tents and mobile toilets for them but like many of the government’s promises, it was not fulfilled.

Addressing a joint press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Thursday, General Secretary Home-Based Women Workers Federation Zehra Khan said that the ministers of the provincial government had promised in a rally to rehabilitate the affected people of the KCR, by the civil society, that they would provide mobile toilets and tents until they are properly rehabilitated.

The government not only turned a blind eye towards its promise, but several houses in PIDC, Mujahid Colony, Ghareebabad had been served with notices to vacate the land. “Ladies and children will come out of their homes, if this time any demolition activity takes place [without rehabilitation of the population with respect],” adding that the provincial and federal governments had no plans regarding the fate of the circular railway.

She feared that once the land was vacated, it would be handed over to different mafias, including the land mafia. “We won’t let this happen. Everyone will be on streets if they will try to demolish any further houses,” she alarmed.

A huge number of women of Quaid-e-Azam colony and other areas, where the anti-encroachment operation had taken place, turned up at the presser to voice their sufferings. Ishrat Ali of Quaid-e-Azam Colony said that after the demolition of their houses they were now sitting on the rubble of their destroyed homes as they had no other place to go.

Zahida Begum of Moosa Colony said that two months back they had a roof over their head and they were able to make ends meet. “Now we are under the open sky. We have no job, no business,” she grieved and demanded immediate rehabilitation and justice.

Another female resident of Ghareebabad invited government officials and Prime Minister Imran Khan to come and stay with them for a day. “See our misery, see how we spend our days and nights under the open sky.”

Anis Haroon of the Human Right Commission of Pakistan said that it was not only about the houses of these people which had been demolished. “They all have been deprived of their livelihoods.” She said that in the year 2013 the Japan International Cooperation Agency in its survery had identified the residents of these settlements and asked the government to rehabilitate them. The government lingered the matter until 2019, but they had failed to rehabilitate them. “The government had six years to rehabilitate them.”

Meanwhile, Seema Liaquat of the Urban Resource Centre, while presenting the joint charter of demands, said that both the government should jointly make efforts to rehabilitate people before demolishing their houses. She said that the people who had been deprived of their livelihoods should be compensated accordingly in the light of International Law.

She also demanded the formation of a committee at the government level for the affected people. The committee must have the representation of the residents of such areas. For the families which were missed in Jica’s 2013 survey, she asked for a fresh survey so they could also be incorporated as affected people. Until the governments did not have enough funds for the construction of the project, no more houses should be demolished.