KARACHI: Sindh government has finally taken up the highly ambitious plan to restart the 44-km Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) directing the chief secretary to complete all the relevant documentation and also talk to the federal government to approach the Chinese authorities with request to constitute a joint working group for the project, it emerged on Thursday.

Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, who presided over a meeting in this regard, also directed the Board of Revenue to resolve the land issues so that the joint working group could be constituted for further action on the KCR, which had been initiated in 1964 to run the service between Drigh Road and downtown. After suffering losses for years, it ceased operation in 1999.

The meeting was attended among other by Information and Transport Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, CM’s Adviser on Law Barrister Murtaza Wahab, Chief Secretary Sohail Rajput, Chairman Planning & Development Hassan Naqvi, Senior Member Board of Revenue (SMBR) Baqaullah Unar, Secretary to the CM Raheem Shaikh and Transport Secretary Saleem Rajput.

The transport minister told the meeting that the project had been put on the back burner during the tenure of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government, though it was most important to resolve city’s transport problems.

CM asks chief secretary to approach federal authorities for joint venture

It may be recalled that the PTI government had decided to revive the KCR on a BOT (build, operate and transfer) basis approved by the Public-Private Partnership Authority with heavy subsidies to the private partner by the government. However, the change in regime led to a change in the financial theme of the project as the incumbent Pakistan Democratic Movement-led government abandoned the PPP mode and decided to seek Chinese investment for the project under CPEC.

Consequently, the work on the first two underpasses in Gulshan-i-Iqbal by the Frontier Works Organisation, which had been awarded a contract of three underpasses, a flyover and an elevated 6.4-km-long structure along with the laying of new railway tracks, stopped the work after the federal government decided to executed the project under CPEC.

The P&D chairman told the meeting that the federal government, with the efforts of the chief minister, had sent the feasibility of the KCR to the Chinese authorities through the Ministry of Planning & Development. The information minister informed the meeting that for inclusion of KCR into CPEC and handing over of KCR Right of Way (RoW) to the provincial government, the chairman of Pakistan Railways had constituted a four-member committee of officers to finalise the modalities regarding handing over of land belonging to Pakistan Railway/KCR to the provincial government.

He further said that the highlights of the ToRs of the committee included negotiation on equal value of alternative and proposed land and future use of land. Mr Memon said that there was an issue of around 40 acres for which railway authorities wanted to have an alternative land.

The chief minister directed the SMBR to work out details of the land the railway authorities wanted to retain or its alternate and report to him within a week The transport minister told the CM that as per the approved plan, the KCR had a 43.2-km route, including 25.51-km elevated and 17.7-km on ground, adding that it would have 24 stations (13 elevated and 11 on-ground). He said that the KCR would have a dual track with 162 train sets.

PR to remove most encroachments within a month

The Pakistan Railways authorities at Karachi on Thursday decided to complete the anti-encroachment operation to retrieve its lands across the city to a great extent within a month in order to clear the entire KRC route and increase utility of its other lands for revenue generation.

The decision came during a meeting of the sub-committee of National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Railways with local PR officials in office of the divisional superintendent (DS).

The committee headed by MNA Ramesh Lal inquired about the status of railways lands in Karachi and progress of its anti-encroachment operation. The two sides also discussed the post-operation scenario and probability of providing alternative accommodations to the families being removed from the occupied PR lands.

“The railway officials requested for some time and assured the committee that the operation would be launched using all available means,” Mr Lal told Dawn after the meeting. “They sought at least one month’s time and appeared confident that significant results would be seen by July 1. The operation would also be carried out against encroachment on KCR routes and over those pieces of land which are illegally occupied so that they could be utilised for revenue generation through different models.”

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2023