There is practically little hope of a revival of the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) as the government is not able to remove encroachments from the tracks of this surface rail-based train system.
A report published in Nikkei Asian Review blames encroachments for a delay in the revival of the KCR. The report says that in March, there were riots in Karachi, a frequent occurrence in the Pakistani city of more than 23 million people. This time the protests were in response to efforts to demolish illegally constructed houses on land needed to revive the comatose Karachi Circular Railway.
“The locals fought with the anti-encroachment team, baton-charged them, held them hostage and set tires on fire,” according to one local press account. “The operation was put to an end before it could even begin.”
The KCR has a long, sad and puzzling history, both before and since it virtually ceased to operate in 1999. Meanwhile, the city’s population has grown rapidly, swollen by a high birth rate and a steady influx of immigrants and refugees.
Now though, there is a new effort to revive the project. The KCR appeared on a wish list of schemes that Pakistani officials presented to Beijing at the end of last year as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project, itself part of China’s broader Bridge and Road Initiative, also known as the One Belt One Road scheme.
Pakistan is set to get upward of $55 billion from the Chinese through CPEC, making the country the largest recipient of Chinese support and the centrepiece of China’s efforts to go global. But the problems of the KCR are a microcosm of the problems of Karachi, which are themselves those of Pakistan writ large.
The railway has become a symbol of the dysfunctionality of the country in general; hostage to political infighting and interference, and to chronic mismanagement. Any resurrection of the KCR would be a hopeful sign at a time when Pakistan badly needs to move forward.
“Karachi is in a bad shape, unfortunately. We’ve lost the glory and shine of Karachi. It was a city of lights. We call it a gateway to Pakistan, but it has not been properly managed,” said Shahbaz Sharif, chief minister of Punjab. “The (central) government is committed to restoring Karachi’s splendid law and order tradition,” said the chief minister. “For example, gang wars are not taking place anymore, and gangs are being busted. Terrorist outfits are being smashed,” he said.
China is not the first to consider supporting the KCR. For years, the Japanese tried. Beginning in 2005, the Japanese government provided technical assistance through the Japan International Cooperation Agency for studies of mass transit in Karachi, focusing on the KCR. Several years later, JICA committed to providing financial assistance to the KCR in the form of a 40-year loan with an interest rate of 0.2% a year, with a 10-year grace period to restore the 43km track.
Several years later, JICA committed to providing financial assistance to the KCR in the form of a 40-year loan with an interest rate of 0.2pc a year, with a 10-year grace period to restore the 43km track.
The original loan was set at $1.5 billion, which rose to $2.25 billion as delays increased the projected cost. But a combination of political bickering, government procrastination and encroachment by squatters led to JICA pulling out in frustration almost a decade later, multiple sources say.
Now it appears that the Chinese will be faced with similar challenges. The encroachment continues. There is a tug of war over which governmental entities have the final say on various matters. Corruption remains an issue.
“All projects have become politicised,” said Naheed Memon, the articulate chairwoman of the Board of Investment in Sindh Province, which includes Karachi. “Political rivalries jeopardise projects.”
Moreover, Karachi does not feel quite like a normal place. It is “a divided city bursting at the seams and falling into ruin,” according to a leading English language newspaper. Nobody knows exactly how many residents there are because there has not been a census since 1998. The next could show a population of up to 25 million, making Karachi one of the largest cities on the planet.