Daily Times

The Supreme Court of Pakistan’s (SC) deadline to revive Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) ended on Sunday.

The SC had directed the Sindh government on May 9 to revive the KCR within a month. The deadline given by the apex court ended on Sunday.

The authorities launched a drive on May 15 to remove encroachments, including houses, shops and other concrete structures that had been built at the abandoned track. However, the city authorities have so far only cleared 40 acres of railway land.

In a statement, Railways Minister Shaikh Rasheed said that the track would be cleared after announcement of the federal budget. He had demanded Rs 1 billion from the Sindh government for restoration of the railway track.

Karachi Mayor Waseem Akhtar claimed that the government was not serious in reviving the city’s railway system as the track had still not been fully cleared. He said that train bogies were not available with the federal government.

Hearing the case pertaining to the revival of the local train and tram service in the Karachi registry, an SC bench, headed by Justice Gulzar Ahmed, also told Pakistan Railways Secretary Farrukh Habib to clear encroachments on the KCR track within a fortnight.

Justice Ahmed inquired why the PR had not implemented the top court’s order regarding clearing encroachments on the KCR track that was issued in November last year. He said that the railways should seek assistance from the Karachi’s mayor and other authorities to remove the encroachments from the track.

The bench had also directed the federal and provincial governments and city authorities to provide alternate land to people who would be affected by the removal of encroachments.