Residents protest over Railways’ drive against encroachments

An anti-encroachment operation took place at the Pakistan Railway’s Karachi Bundar X Yard on Tuesday, which led to protests in the area.

Residents blocked the Mai Kolachi and Native Jetty road and set tyres on fire due to which traffic came to a standstill on Mai Kolachi Road and Native Jetty Bridge, as well as in Tower and Keamari areas.

The residents complained that they had been living in the area for years and could not vacate the land on a mere order. According to an official for the Pakistan Railways, the land belonged to them, and was supposed to be used for cargo loading.

“The operation is taking place in coordination with the provincial government,” they said, adding that in the operation eight police officials, Pakistan Railways divisional engineer Khadim Hussain and SP Ghulam Baqar were wounded. The official clarified that the anti-encroachment did not take place on the Karachi Circular Railway’s land.

Railway inspection

A two-day DS special inspection from the Marvi station near Khokhrapar to Hyderabad was concluded by railway officers under the supervision of Divisional Superintendent Railways Karachi Arshad Salam Khattak.

Upon visiting every enroute station, the DS was engulfed by a crowd demanding urgent resumption of the train service in their area. “The region is laden with poverty and bus fares have surged exponentially during the Covid-19 crisis. The Railways provided the local population with the cheapest possible mode of journey,” a complainant at the Khokhrapar station said.