In pursuance of the directives of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Karachi Commissioner Roshan Ali Shaikh launched a campaign in the metropolitan to retrieve state-owned land suspected to be encroached by land grabbers, the land mafia and other criminals.
“We have managed to evacuate a belt of the Pakistan Railways’ land spread over an area of 5 kilometres that stretches from Wazir Mansion to Gulbai,” Shaikh said on Sunday.
The commissioner said that the campaign that succeeded in the retrieval of the precious piece of land was supervised by Deputy Commissioner Gunhwar Ali Laghari and Harbour Assistant Commissioner Junaid Rajput.
“It was a joint effort of the city administration, the local police and the Anti-Encroachment Cell that led to the recovery of the 43,360 square feet land,” said Shaikh.
In response to a question, the commissioner said that he was fully aware of the information regarding government lands, as well as those that are the property of state-owned entities infringed on by professional land grabbers under one or the other pretext.
“We have not only initiated a crackdown, but we have also chalked out a plan to counter the criminals,” he said.
The commissioner also said that the land mafia has to be strictly handled, as it is also responsible for disturbing law and order in the commercial hub of the country.
“We cannot allow anyone to hamper economic activities in a city that is the source of the lifeline for the people as well as the country,” he said.
The commissioner appealed to the people and the media to help the government in eliminating anti-social elements that are disrupting the peace and tranquillity of the metropolis.
If this news is true, its a good start as the Railways' prime real estate has been encroached, grabbed and being used all over Pakistan for years by influential people for gaining wealth from it rather than it being utilized properly by the Railway itself or leased out to others, in adequate manner, at prevailing market value by the Railway to help finance its current situation and to come out of its current economic plight. However, like other things, this effort would also fail unless there is a good administration and is a strong curb on corruption. Pakistan Railways' real estate should be considered as country's heritage and it should never be sold out but instead it should only be leased out where deemed feasible and necessary to generate additional funds for the Railways.
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