Daily Times

An anti-encroachment operation was launched on Wednesday in Gulshan Block-13 for restoration of the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR). The Supreme Court of Pakistan had earlier ordered the authorities to remove encroachments and illegal structures from the route of the KCR within a month.

The anti-encroachment cell staff launched the drive from Urdu College Railway Station and started removing 300 huts and concrete structures built on the track.

In the previous phase of the drive against encroachments, the city authorities had cleared 7.2 kilometers of the railway track in the central district.

In an earlier meeting, the city administration had decided to start clearing the Karachi Circular Railway track on the orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

A plan for the removal of the ‘encroachments’ along the route of the KCR was also finalised. The officials in the meeting decided to clear the track within 10 days.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the Pakistan Railways, the Karachi Development Authority, the Sindh Mass Transit Authority, the Sindh Building Control Authority, the Anti-Encroachment Cell and all deputy commissioners.

The meeting had decided to remove the encroachments from at least 50-feet on both sides of the railway track. Several earlier attempts to clear the railway track ended without success.

The 44-kilometre KCR track passes through different districts of the metropolis. Several people have built shops, houses and other structures on the track in past years. Last year, the railways authorities conducted the operation to clear the track in December. They were even assisted by the central district administration central and Karachi Metropolitan Corporation. The operation had ended after only 7.2 kilometre of the track could be cleared in the central district.

The operation had started from Gharibabad’s furniture market and ended near North Nazimabad. The KCR track, however, still exists in Musa Colony and Mujahid Colony in central district.

The drive was then moved to the west district of the city. However, no significant progress has been made since then.