Sindh govt unhappy over Railways selling state land

Govt claims that railways has illegally sold land allotted to it for operational purposes.

KARACHI: Fed up with Pakistan Railways selling state-owned land in Sindh to make up for its operational losses year after year, the provincial government is going to agitate the issue at the Council of Common Interest (CCI) meeting in Islamabad on Thursday (today). Sindh will also bring up its reservations about the federal government’s efforts to evolve a national mineral policy, despite the fact that the mines and mineral department has been devolved to provinces.

Chairing a meeting here on Tuesday, Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah said that the provincial government has done its homework and would present its grievances with the Railways at the CCI meeting. “Pakistan Railways was given the land only to expand its operations, but instead it has been allotting the land for commercial purposes, which is illegal,” interprovincial coordination department secretary Kaleem Lashari told The Express Tribune.

Lashari said that the Sindh government had been given allotting land to railways from 1866 to 1974. However, during the last 50 years, there has been no expansion in terms of rail tracks and stations, and railway officials have been selling state-owned land, he complained.

Some of the areas where railways has engaged in this “illegal” activity include Drigh Road Station, Drigh Road Colony, Dr Daudpota Road, Bellasis Road near Pakistan Chowk, Mauripur Road near Wazir Mansion Station and Paposh Nagar near Orangi Railway Station in Karachi. State land in Rohri, Sukkur, Kotri, Hyderabad and other areas have also been auctioned by the Railways department.

“The Sindh government will therefore bring up this issue at the CCI meeting, because it owns these lands, not the railways department,” said Lashari.

Another official familiar with the problem said that the provincial government had also reserved some land for housing societies for railway employees in Hyderabad. The Railways, however, ended up selling that to private entities. The chief minister said during the meeting that the provincial government would reclaim the land that it gave to the Railways.

Provincial mineral policy

Sindh government is also upset about the federal government’s interest in designing a national mineral policy. Chief minister Qaim Ali Shah said that the mines and mineral department had been devolved to provinces after the 18th constitutional amendment. “Since we have provincial autonomy, the Sindh government should make its own mineral policy, instead of relying on a national mineral policy.”

Apart from its land dispute with Pakistan Railways and the mineral policy, Sindh also intends to raise issues regarding the functioning of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority, provincial representation in federal entities and renaming the ministry of professional and technical training.

Chief Secretary Raja Mohammad Abbas, principal secretary Mohammad Siddique Memon, irrigation secretary Babar Effendi, coal and energy secretary Aijaz Ali Khan, mines and minerals secretary Ishaque Mehar and others were also present during the meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 8^th, 2012.