City Reporter
Opposition Leader in Sindh Assembly Firdous Shamim Naqvi has opposed the demolition of the residential units coming in the way of the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) and said that in no way the project could be made functional within three months.
“The officials have assured the apex court to initiate the project within three months, however after my meeting with the deputy superintendent Railways, it is evident that there is no possibility of making KCR project functional in the prescribed time,” he said. He vehemently rejected the idea of demolishing housing units on the KCR land without providing alternate housing facility to the affectees.
Naqvi said that as per the apex court directives the demolitions could only be made after making arrangements for the alternate housing facility. “Years have passed by but not a single initiative has been taken to provide alternatives to the affectees who were unaware of the illegality of the land at the time of purchasing,” he said. He further demanded of the authorities to arrest the railways and building authority officials whose nexus allowed encroachment on the government land. “At first action should be taken against all such culprits,” Naqvi said. Terming it an injustice with the people of the city, the opposition leader asked as to why masses had to bear the brunt of the irregularities committed by the government officials. “This matter should be taken in a humanitarian context,” he pleaded and announced that they would not allow anyone to commit this injustice with the people of the metropolis.
He further raised question over the haste shown by the government authorities in demolishing the constructions on the KCR track and demanded of the Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed to first clear encroachments on the railway land in his constituency.
