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KARACHI, Apr 30 (APP):The National Assembly Standing Committee on Railways has recommended a one-month deadline for provincial Chief Secretaries to transfer the titles of encroached railway land to Pakistan Railways, warning that failure to comply would result in their summoning before the committee.
The recommendation came during the committee’s 10th meeting held at the office of the Divisional Superintendent of Pakistan Railways, Karachi, chaired by Rai Hassan Nawaz Khan on Wednesday, according to a news release.
Members were briefed that out of 19,594 acres of railway land in the Karachi Division, 954 acres have been encroached upon by private individuals. Of this, about 340 acres have been retrieved over the past three years.
The Divisional Superintendent highlighted that one of the major hurdles in reclaiming encroached land is the delay in transfer of land titles from provincial governments to Pakistan Railways.
As part of the meeting, the committee also visited the Karachi Port Trust, Keamari, to observe freight loading and unloading operations, which they appreciated for its efficiency. The members later inspected the Cantt. Railway Station to review public facilities and overall conditions.
The meeting was attended by MNAs Ramesh Lal, Waseem Qadir, Ibrar Ahmad, Haji Jamal Shah Kakar, Zulfiqar Ali, Syed Shah Ahad Ali Shah, Fazal Muhammad Khan, Ahmed Saleem Siddiqui, Muhammad Ilyas Choudhary, Nuzhat Sadiq (via Zoom), Mahreen Razzak Bhutto, Sadiq Ali Memon, Rafiq Ahmad Jamali, and Shafqat Abbas (via Zoom), along with senior officials from the Ministry of Railways and Pakistan Railways.