KARACHI: After announcing an operation to remove all construction coming within 50 feet of the Karachi Circular Railways track for Thursday morning, Pakistan Railways decided to postpone the action for two days.

Meanwhile, the people living along the tracks came out to protest. They held a rally on I.I. Chundrigar Road as the operation was said to begin from City Station. Some elderly women even decided to lie down on the tracks in order to lodge their protest. They demanded being moved to an alternative place ahead of the operation.

The media was also present in large numbers since 9am when the operation was due to begin.

But nothing happened till afternoon. Then Pakistan Railways announced that the operation of bulldozing all encroachments will now take place on Saturday afternoon.

A Railways spokesman said that they have held several meetings with the Sindh government as well as the police regarding the operation and it was decided by all to wait until Saturday.

It was said that utilities such as K-Electric, the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board and the Sui Southern Gas Company, too, were also asked to disconnect all their connections to the properties. The occupants of the houses were issued notices to vacate the premises a few days ago.

Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2020