Karachi’s transportation woes: Only 20% of KCR needs clearance
Transport, JICA officials dismiss reports that Japanese support has been withdrawn.
The work on reviving KCR will begin as soon as the upcoming budget allocates money to resettle the affected families. PHOTO: KUTCKCR.COM
KARACHI:
The government only has to clear 20% of the area around the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) lines to give the project the much-needed go ahead, The Express Tribune has learnt.
The work on reviving KCR will begin as soon as the upcoming budget allocates money to resettle the affected families, said the officials, dismissing reports that international donors have withdrawn their support, $2.6 billion as soft loans, for the project.
“No letter has been issued by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) to suspend its loans,” said Shamim A Sherazi, the managing director of Karachi Urban Transport Corporation (KUTC) that deals with the project. “We have completed our homework on how to remove the encroachment around 20%of the tracks and resettle the families by giving them compensation and an alternative place to live.”
A Jica official, seeking anonymity, also denied reports that the organisation has withdrawn support. “Jica has not issued any such statement or sent a letter to the Sindh government about the KCR project.” The official added, however, that the federal government’s focus is on the energy crisis due to which all transport projects have taken a back seat.
Sherazi happily reported that 80% of the KCR tracks are free from encroachment. The remaining areas are also not posing a major threat as they mostly include shantytowns and single- or double-storey buildings that accommodate 4,653 households. Even the Jica official said there were no major encroachments on the tracks but he refused to comment on what was actually causing a delay in the project. “The KUTC can give the best answer to this question,” he said.
The government has fulfilled the 46 conditions that Jica had laid down and are waiting for the appraisal mission to come and verify this, said an official of the Sindh Transport Department, who requested anonymity.
Resettlement
“Every family will be resettled and compensated,” KUTC’s Sherazi assured, adding that Liaquatabad, North Nazimabad, Yasinabad, Aladin Park, PIDC and Wazir Mansion are places where people have encroached upon the railway lines.
“To deal with this issue, Pakistan Railways and the Sindh government have jointly formed an eight-member resettlement committee, headed by Karachi commissioner,” Sherazi explained. “The committee submitted its recommendations to the Sindh and federal governments on May 20, fixed the compensation amount and suggested alternative places for resettlement. After the recommendations are approved, the budget will be allocated and the project will kick off.”
According to the transport department official, the recommendations of the committee are confidential. “We have given resettlement options for the encroachers so maybe we will pay them compensation, or maybe we will build houses for them, or just allot land, or not give them anything at all,” he said. Jica is calling them ‘project affected persons’ but they are essentially encroachers, he added.
Meanwhile, Karachi Comm-issioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui said they will get in touch with major stakeholders in the city and seek their help to remove the encroachment.
Pilot project
To overcome the encroachment issue, the federal and Sindh governments and the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) are giving financial assistance. They will build a corridor by erecting walls on both sides of the dual tracks spreading over 43 kilometres, said Sherazi. “The federal government will bear 60% of the funding and the rest will be taken care of by the Sindh government and KMC,” he said. Sherazi estimated the pilot project will be completed within a year and a half.
Later, the JICA-funded project will kick off to revive the ground tracks, set up tunnels and elevated tracks before starting the trains. This will take another four or five years. “The JICA team, led by their South East Asia head, will be coming next month to review the progress on KCR.”
Published in The Express Tribune, May 31st, 2014.
The government only has to clear 20% of the area around the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) lines to give the project the much-needed go ahead, The Express Tribune has learnt.
The work on reviving KCR will begin as soon as the upcoming budget allocates money to resettle the affected families, said the officials, dismissing reports that international donors have withdrawn their support, $2.6 billion as soft loans, for the project.
“No letter has been issued by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) to suspend its loans,” said Shamim A Sherazi, the managing director of Karachi Urban Transport Corporation (KUTC) that deals with the project. “We have completed our homework on how to remove the encroachment around 20%of the tracks and resettle the families by giving them compensation and an alternative place to live.”
A Jica official, seeking anonymity, also denied reports that the organisation has withdrawn support. “Jica has not issued any such statement or sent a letter to the Sindh government about the KCR project.” The official added, however, that the federal government’s focus is on the energy crisis due to which all transport projects have taken a back seat.
Source: KUTC
Sherazi happily reported that 80% of the KCR tracks are free from encroachment. The remaining areas are also not posing a major threat as they mostly include shantytowns and single- or double-storey buildings that accommodate 4,653 households. Even the Jica official said there were no major encroachments on the tracks but he refused to comment on what was actually causing a delay in the project. “The KUTC can give the best answer to this question,” he said.
The government has fulfilled the 46 conditions that Jica had laid down and are waiting for the appraisal mission to come and verify this, said an official of the Sindh Transport Department, who requested anonymity.
Resettlement
“Every family will be resettled and compensated,” KUTC’s Sherazi assured, adding that Liaquatabad, North Nazimabad, Yasinabad, Aladin Park, PIDC and Wazir Mansion are places where people have encroached upon the railway lines.
“To deal with this issue, Pakistan Railways and the Sindh government have jointly formed an eight-member resettlement committee, headed by Karachi commissioner,” Sherazi explained. “The committee submitted its recommendations to the Sindh and federal governments on May 20, fixed the compensation amount and suggested alternative places for resettlement. After the recommendations are approved, the budget will be allocated and the project will kick off.”
According to the transport department official, the recommendations of the committee are confidential. “We have given resettlement options for the encroachers so maybe we will pay them compensation, or maybe we will build houses for them, or just allot land, or not give them anything at all,” he said. Jica is calling them ‘project affected persons’ but they are essentially encroachers, he added.
Meanwhile, Karachi Comm-issioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui said they will get in touch with major stakeholders in the city and seek their help to remove the encroachment.
Pilot project
To overcome the encroachment issue, the federal and Sindh governments and the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) are giving financial assistance. They will build a corridor by erecting walls on both sides of the dual tracks spreading over 43 kilometres, said Sherazi. “The federal government will bear 60% of the funding and the rest will be taken care of by the Sindh government and KMC,” he said. Sherazi estimated the pilot project will be completed within a year and a half.
Later, the JICA-funded project will kick off to revive the ground tracks, set up tunnels and elevated tracks before starting the trains. This will take another four or five years. “The JICA team, led by their South East Asia head, will be coming next month to review the progress on KCR.”
Published in The Express Tribune, May 31st, 2014.