Over 100 more houses razed to clear KCR’s right of way

On the 12th day of an anti-encroachment operation under way in the city to clear the Karachi Circular Railway’s (KCR) right of way, over 100 more houses were razed to the ground near the North Nazimabad railway station on Wednesday.

On May 9, the Supreme Court had given the Pakistan Railways 15 days to clear at least 50 feet on both sides of the local railway track, following which a joint operation with the district administration is being carried out in the East and Central districts.

The operation has been delayed on and off due to protests by the locals. On Wednesday, the Pakistan Railways officials, along with the district administration and the local and Pakistan Railways police took part in the operation.

Lady police constables were also on standby in view of security risks during the operation, which was carried out along the Gujjar Nullah up till the North Nazimabad railway station.

Pakistan Railways Deputy Director Property Land Dilawar Hussain told the media that more than concrete residential units exist surrounding Nazimabad Railway station. In District Central, he said, over 75 per cent of the anti-encroachment operation has been completed.

“We are making all efforts to get the track vacated very soon,” he said, adding that due to protests, they had to delay the operation sometimes. He said that in a matter of four to five days, they would vacate the entire KCR right of way in the district.

Meanwhile, North Nazimabad Assistant Commissioner Zainul Abedin Channa said that earlier, they had already issued notices to the residents of the area to find alternative spaces.

Demonstration

On Tuesday, residents affected by the anti-encroachment operation had staged a demonstration outside the Karachi Press Club to demand that the operation be immediately stopped and they be respectably relocated.

The protest was co-organised by the joint action committee of the KCR affectees, which includes the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education & Research (Piler), the Urban Resource Centre, Shehri, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and the Aurat Foundation, along with the KCR action committee and the Urban Lab Karachi.

One of the protesters, Muhammad Arman, was a resident of Quaid-e-Azam Colony in Gharibabad, where he claimed to have been living since the past 45 years. “Our ancestors have been sitting on that land for the past 45 years,” he said, adding that they were never served with any notice to vacate their houses.

He recalled that in 2009 they were all handed documents assuring them that the government would relocate their entire community properly and with respect to Juma Goth. Then all of a sudden, he said, one morning bulldozers arrived and razed their houses to the ground.

Arman used to live with his mother and unmarried sisters. Now he has no place to reside. “We were promised a house in lieu of a house and a shop in lieu of a shop in Juma Goth,” he said. He lamented that the media do not cover their suffering, and that the police threaten them.

The elderly Asghar Shah complained that media vans were lined up outside their houses but no one listened to their sorrows. “My children were raised to men in the locality, but now we are encroachers all of a sudden.”

Ayesha, a resident of Azizabad Railway Line, said they were living under the open sky in Ramazan. “We all are labourers. We have lost everything,” she wept. Home-Based Women Workers Federation General Secretary Zehra Abid, who was also present in the demo, said the residents of these Katchi Abadis are not literate enough.

“They don’t know if it is encroached land they are living on,” she said, adding that they should be relocated, and that if the government has no future plan for the project and relocation, they should not demolish more houses.

She pointed out that there was a law that said that if someone who had spent 20 years on a piece of land, it would belong to them. “Residence is our legal right in the constitution. The state is responsible to provide shelter to every person living here.” Piler Executive Director Karamat Ali said the Sindh and federal governments had demolished the houses and shops on the KCR land against the constitution of the country. Those who have been deprived of their houses should be provided with alternatives immediately, he added.