KARACHI: The Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Gulzar Ahmed, on Tuesday berated Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah for not acting on court orders to remove encroachments from land meant for the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) and for the overall condition of the metropolis, saying there were "no roads, no water, no parks", and the city had been "turned into a village".

Justice Gulzar Ahmed made these remarks at the Supreme Court's Karachi registry during the hearing of a case regarding removal of encroachments in the metropolis.

During the hearing, the Chief Justice asked Shah for the progress report on removal of encroachments.

The chief minister apologized to the court for not submitting the progress report, saying he would submit a detailed report if he was given two weeks' time.

At this, the Chief Justice asked Shah to inform the court verbally what progress had been made since the order was passed.

"Work has been done on Shahrah-e-Faisal and it has been widened. [We] have also rebuilt Tariq Road, the Shahrah-e-Quaideen and the University Road," Shah told the court.

The Chief Justice remarked that the condition of Shahrah-e-Faisal was not good. "The road is bumpy. There is dust and rubbish, and there are no trees."

The court then asked Shah about progress made on removing of encroachments.

"When I became the chief minister, I removed the barrier in front of the Chief Minister's House first of all.

"[We] have emptied the footpaths of five-star hotels. I do not want that footpaths be encroached upon," Shah said.

The Chief Justice showed a newspaper clipping to Shah, observing that it said he had directed the director-general of the Sindh Building Control Authority to approve all buildings.

Sindh Minister for Local Government Syed Nasir Hussain Shah then informed the court that no "wrong building plan" would be approved, and construction would only be allowed where it was legal.

At this, the Chief Justice asked, "Where are empty spaces in the city to construct buildings?"

"Nobody will be allowed to construct illegally. Your orders will be followed," the minister assured the court.

The Chief Justice said that "ground realities show that no work has been done".

However, the Sindh CM told the court that "even footpaths have been cleared".

"[The] mayor had the responsibility to get the encroachments removed which he did not do. We had your orders followed through the cabinet's approval. New sewerage lines were laid from the Shaheed-i-Millat Road to Tariq Road, and the University Road was also [re]built," CM Shah added.

"The entire city has been transformed into a village. There are no roads, no water, no parks," the Chief Justice said.

"We are doing plantation and widening the roads. Work has been done on important roads, and it is in progress. We will submit the progress report if we are given some time," Shah said.

Mentioning further steps that his government had taken, the provincial chief executive said: "The foundation of Malir Expressway has been laid. After deaths caused by the rains in 2007 and 2010, efforts were made to improve the system to deal with rain."

CJP GRILLS COMMISSIONER: Before the Chief Justice summoned the chief minister to appear in person, the court questioned Karachi Commissioner Navid Ahmed Shaikh about the progress made toward the implementation of its directives.

Responding to the CJP, Shaikh said he had only recently been appointed and was therefore not in a position to answer the court's queries.

"You should have prepared before coming here," the Chief Justice said.

"Why are these people sent to appear before us? What do they know about people's needs?" questioned Justice Gulzar Ahmed, asking the commissioner whether he had read the court's order of May 2019 in which directives were given to vacate the land within two weeks.

The commissioner replied that directions on this were issued to relevant departments.

The Chief Justice, however, expressed his displeasure over the reply, saying that those people who had received the commissioner's directions "would simply have issued further directions" to others.

Justice Gulzar Ahmed also questioned the commissioner about the situation of Kidney Hill Park. Shaikh informed the court that work on the construction of a new mosque had been stopped, and a report had been submitted to the apex court.

The Chief Justice then asked where the report was, telling the commissioner that he could be sent to jail because he did "not know what the problems of the city were".

Justice Gulzar Ahmed observed that 90 per cent of the people who had encroached land had left the city.

"Those who are building on illegally encroached land are huge mafias. One plot has been allotted to multiple people. Construction was also done on plots meant for public service buildings. Is there anyone to stop it?"

The court ordered that all encroachments be removed from Kidney Hill Park and a report be submitted to it tomorrow.

The lawyer for the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) contended that houses had been built on the park, and it would be difficult to remove the encroachments by tomorrow, upon which the court gave time until the next date of hearing but directed that an initial report be submitted tomorrow (Wednesday).

The apex court also directed that the Green Line project be completed by June 2021 and a report be submitted about it.

It further directed authorities to establish a park on the land of Karachi's Jinnah International Airport by August 14, 2021, and to submit a report on the project.

During the hearing, the railways secretary and other officials also appeared in the court over the matter of the Hyatt Regency Hotel construction on land belonging to the Pakistan Railways.

The secretary informed the court that the rent for the hotel was estimated at Rs46 million.

At this, the Chief Justice said that the organization did not have the authority to estimate rents.

"According to the Supreme Court's ruling, railways land cannot be leased out for longer than five years. Build a head office etc in place of the hotel," Justice Gulzar Ahmed said.

The Chief Justice then asked what had become of the Kala Pul park.

The secretary informed the court that the boundary walls for the park had been constructed and the assignment was given to the National Engineering Services Pakistan (Nespak).

The Chief Justice said that petrol pumps had been built "all over the railways land".

Officials from the PR told the court that no such petrol pumps had been constructed since 2010.

The court then turned its attention to the matter of hotels at the airport.

It observed that officials of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) had assured the court that parks would be built on the airport's empty lands and directed that a progress report be submitted on the same.

The Chief Justice observed that the new Minister for Railways, Azam Swati, had said that the railways could not function on the old system and questioned why flyovers and underpasses were not built.

"[We] need the court's help for KCR otherwise accidents will happen every day," the secretary informed the court, adding that getting the lands vacated and walkways cleared was a "big problem".

He also requested the court to pass an order for relocation of the people who were to be displaced.

"You are the ones who allowed them to [build] there and granted illegal allotment. Why should those who grabbed the land be relocated?" the Chief Justice asked.

The court directed that the Hyatt Regency Hotel land be used for railways and a report be submitted within a month.

It ordered "immediate action" to get back railways land and instructed that the help of police or Rangers be taken.

It directed the director-general of Sindh Rangers and Sindh inspector general of police to extend complete cooperation.

Divisional superintendent of railways told the court that the local train had started functioning.

"We have got a very good response. We have given a plan to the Sindh government," he said.

The railways secretary also told the court that 70 per cent of work on the KCR had been completed, and it would make a model mass transit programme.

The court directed that KCR be made fully functional within the stipulated time period after which progress would be gauged.

If that was not done, action would be taken against the authorities concerned. It directed the director-general of railways to appear before the court in one month's time along with the progress report.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020