No human settlement to be affected in KCR’s first phase: commissioner Iftikhar Shallwani

Karachi Commissioner Iftikhar Shallwani has said no human settlement will be affected in the first phase to revive the Karachi Circular Railway’s (KCR) project.

The commissioner said this while chairing a meeting at his office on Monday regarding the anti-encroachment operation to be conducted throughout the city in the light of the Supreme Court’s order. In the first phase, the railway tracks and railway stations would be made functional and human settlements would not be touched.

According to a press release, the commissioner has directed the relevant authorities to remove concrete walls enclosing all clubs in the city’s Saddar area. They are the Muslim Gymkhana, the Sindh Club, the Karachi Gymkhana and the Karachi Club. In place of the concrete walls, iron fence would be installed, it added. In the meeting, IG police Amir Farooqui, deputy commissioner south Irshad Ali and deputy commissioner west Ahmed Ali Siddiqui were in attendance. Representatives of the KMC, all cantonment boards, the Sindh Mass Transit Authority, the Karachi Development Authority, the Civil Aviation Authority and other organisations also attended the meeting.

It was decided that the demolition of illegal structures throughout the city would be carried in the light of the Supreme Court’s order. The press statement said the Supreme Court had given a deadline to remove illegal constructions and all governmental organisations had agreed to meet it.

It was also discussed in the meeting that how illegal constructions in the Bagh Ibne Qasim, the Kidney Hill Park, the Hill Park and Sharea Quaideen would be removed.

Another matter that was discussed in the meeting was the construction of a private school on the land allocated for park in Clifton area. Representatives of the KDA informed the commissioner that the land for a public park in Clifton’s block 5 has been transferred to the CAA to construct urban forest and a public park on the directives of the Supreme Court.

The CAA made sure in the meeting that they would make efforts to convert the piece of land into a park. The commissioner directed the deputy commissioner south to seal the private school and make efforts for the construction of a park by demarcating the land.

The press release said Shallwani also directed the IG police to assist all government organisations in their anti-encroachment operations. The commissioner asked the Pakistan Railways to not let their land be used for any purpose other than the operations of trains.

As for Sharea Quaideen, it was decided that all encroachments and car dealers on the green belt, service road and footpaths would be removed. It was also decided that the Royal Park Building would be knocked down in the light of the Supreme Court’s order.

The press statement said Shallwani visited different areas of the city on Saturday with Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s (KMC) municipal commissioner Dr Syed Saifur Rehman and Sindh police officials to gauge the situation of illegal constructions in the city. The commissioner ordered immediate demolition of all illegal structures in the city, the press release said.