Sindh govt, Railways agree on reviving KCR

Staff Reporter
The Sindh govt and Railways have agreed on reviving Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) on Monday. ThE decision was taken in a meeting between the Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah and Federal Railways Minister Shaikh Rasheed here at CM House.The meeting also decided to resolve all the pending issues regarding KCR, including handing over federally-owned Karachi Urban Transport Company (KUTC) and Right of Way to provincial government so that the project could be started by getting its financial approval from CPEC-related Joint Coordination Committee scheduled to be held in Beijing in April 2020. The meeting was also attended by Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah, Advisor law Murtaza Wahab, PSCM Sajid jamal Abro, Commissioner Karachi Iftikhar Shahalwani, Secretary ransport Abbas Detho. Shaikh Raseed was assisted by Secretary / Chairman Railways Habib-ur-Rehman Gilani, CEO / Sr. GM Railways Dost Ali Leghari, DS Railways Nisar Memon, DG Planning Railways Syed Mazhar Ali, Addl. General Manager railways Furrukh Taimoor. Murad Ali Shah giving chronology of the KCR to the minister said that on December 3, 2016 he had requested the prime minister to include KCR under CPEC frame work, issue Sovereign Guarantee for its revitalization, hand over Karachi Urban Transport Company (KUTC) to Sindh government and hand over Right of Way (ROW) to KUTC. Shah said that the prime minister [Nawaz Sharif] approved all his requests and formed a committee on the issue of handing over ROW to KUTC, therefore the matter was delayed. He added that the revival of the KCR was agreed in sixth JCC meeting held on Dec 29, 2016 at Beijing. The chief minister said that on October 6, 2017 ECNEC approved KCR project at the cost of Rs207.6 billion ($1.97 billion) through Chinese loan. The Transport & Mass Transit Dept issued administrative approval of the project on Nov 8, 2017. According to the chief minister the KCR was technically qualified and matured for implementation in the 7th JCC meeting held on November 21, 2017. In 8th JCC meeting held on December 20, 2018 the importance of the KCR was recognized and in the 9th JCC meeting held in islamabd on November 6, 2019, the Chinese side stated that the Pakistan Government should submit the financing request to the Chinese side. Shah said that he had held a meeting with Chairman CPEC Authority Lt Gen Asim Bajwan in Islamabad who had assured that the KCR project would be implemented in true letter and spirit. The chief minister said that in KUTC in which federal government owned 60 percent shares and provincial governed owned 40 percent shares had not been handed over to Sindh government so that a consultant could be appointed to carry forward the KCR matters. At this Federal Minister Shaikh Rasheed told the chief minister that he was handing over KUTC to Sindh government. For the purpose, a committee under Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah and Federal Secretary Railways was constituted to finalise the formalities and arrangements of handing over KUTC to Sindh government within a month. The chief minister said that the KUTC would have to file an application with SECP for change of administration. Talking about removal of encroachment along the KCR route, the chief minister said that out of 38 kilometers, 33 km have been cleared and only five kilometers were left. The commissioner said that the remaining portion would also be cleared from the encroachers when Pakistan Railways came up. At this Railway Minister and the chief minister constituted another committee under Commissioner Karachi with DS Railways Karachi and other concerned offers as its members for removal of the remaining part of the KCR route. The committee has been directed to clear the way within a month and report the government. The Minister assured the chief minister that his ministry would extend maximum cooperation to start the KCR project the earliest. It was also agreed that the affected people of KCR would be rehabilitated by constructing their houses on Railway Land, where available.