THIS refers to the photo published on front page of Dawn’s Metro South (May 29). The caption of the picture says that affected families with members of civil society staged a demonstration outside the Karachi Press Club.

They were demanding alternative places for their rehabilitation after their homes and businesses were bulldozed by the Pakistan Railways during an anti-encroachment operation for the revival of the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR).

In another letter (May 26), the writer has demanded that the railway ministry needs to coordinate with the Sindh government to devise a comprehensive resettlement plan before launching on its quest of modernising the city’s transport.

More than 4,623 affected families have encroached the KCR’s 45km-long track without any permission from the Sindh government or the railway ministry.

No one can claim compensation of property built illegally on government land. Instead, the railway should recover the cost of demolition and removal of debris from the site of landgrabbers.

KM Shafi

Karachi

Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2019