Pakistan Railways has regained 100 acres of its land illegally occupied along rail tracks and in cities across the country, caretaker Minister for Railways Mansoor Tariq said on Tuesday. The minister himself led on Monday a railway team that retrieved encroached land in Peshawar, which was in addition to the 100 acres recovered elsewhere in the country during the past one month.
"In Peshawar we reclaimed land worth Rs 500 million along the railway tracks and other areas in the city," Mansoor Tariq told APP.
He said Pakistan Railways would not brook any interference with the drive by political groups or influential people. During the anti-encroachment operation in Peshawar all illegal structures built on the railway land were demolished, Tariq said.
For the first time Pakistan Railways police has been empowered to launch anti-encroachment operation with the help of the civil administration, extending its jurisdiction limited in the past to trains, railway tracks and stations.
Tariq said the second phase of the operation would be launched after Ashura, adding that the ministry had directed the Railways police to recover remaining railway land within one month. So far 60 percent of encroached land had been reclaimed and the rest would be taken back in the second phase.
He urged the Railways police to complete the task with diligence and honesty without any fear or favour. "The purpose of the operation is swift revenue generation through utilisation of railways land and property across the country in joint ventures with the private sector," he said.