KARACHI, Dec 3: Differences have cropped up between the Pakistan Railways and the Sindh government over the leasing out of shops and markets along the tracks of the Karachi Circular Railway.
Knowledgeable sources said the Sindh government had decided, in principle, to protect the land of the KCR at all costs and the Pakistan Railways’ bid to lease out shops and markets along the KCR tracks would be strongly resisted.
At a meeting in the Governor’s house on Monday, Governor Mohammedmian Soomro emphasized the need for revival and maintenance of the KCR with the cooperation of the private sector, and instructed the city government to protect the land along the KCR tracks, to keep a watch on it and make the area SHOs responsible for the protection of this land.
The sources said the Sindh government had written a letter to the Pakistan Railways about the latter’s plans to lease out shops and markets along the KCR tracks. The railways had stated that the step was being taken to increase the revenue of the railways as the railways had a right to use its land.
The Sindh government contested the railways’ claim, saying that the land was owned by the provincial government and the railways could not be allowed to lease out shops and markets. If the railways set up shops and markets along the KCR tracks, it would seriously hamper the revival of the operation of the KCR, which would hopefully be revived in the near future, the sources in the government said.
The governor called upon the participants of the meeting to consider setting up a joint stock company to look after the affairs of the KCR.
Sohail Wajahat, the Managing Director of Siemens, put forward suggestions on behalf of his company about the revival of the KCR, and the Business Manager of Siemens, Qazi Fahimuddin, proposed a plan in this regard based on their experience in various countries.
The meeting was attended by Sindh Minister of Transport Dewan Mohammed Yusuf Farooqui, Chief Secretary Javed Ashraf Husain, Nazim Karachi Naimatullah Khan, the Director-General of the Karachi Mass Transit Programme, Dr Tahir Soomro, and other officials.
The meeting was informed that the KCR would not only take off the pressure from the roads, but it would also be environment friendly. The proposed plan included rebuilding of tracks, improvement of the signalling system, repair and renovation of stations and engineering services, enabling a safe, sound and efficient means of transport.
The governor appreciated the interest being taken by Siemens in the revival of the KCR, and he said that he hoped that the KCR would have the private sector’s cooperation right from the initial stage, both in finance and maintenance.
The sources said the meeting of the Siemens’ delegation with the governor was in pursuance of the interest shown by a German delegation that recently visited the city. Germany had shown interest in giving an aid of 500 million US dollars for development-and environment-related projects.
The Sindh government, in collaboration with Siemens, would prepare a paper on the KCR. The paper would be sent to the Economic Affair Division of the federal government as its delegation was scheduled to visit Germany to identify the projects to seek the grant.
The sources said Siemens had initially suggested that the KCR’s operation be revived with Rs2 billion in the first phase. The rolling stock would also be included. Earlier, the provincial government had estimated a cost of Rs1 billion to Rs1.5 billion for the revival of the KCR, but it did not include the rolling stock. According to the Siemens’ suggestions, the rolling stock would comprise 30 per cent local component, and maintenance would comprise 25pc local component. However, the percentage of local component would increase gradually with the passage of time.
The meeting also discussed as to which authority would take over the land along the KCR tracks from the administrative control of the Pakistan Railways. The meeting pointed out that the Karachi Mass Transit Authority (KMTA) was there which was working on long-and short-term projects. However, it would be decided at a later stage whether the KMTA was suitable to be authorized to take over the land from the Pakistan Railways.
The meeting was told that the consultants for the KCR were preparing long- and short-term feasibility studies for the revival of the KCR, and these would hopefully be ready for presentation by December-end, the sources said.
