On Thursday, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah urged officials to handle land concerns related to the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project.
The chief minister delivered these directions while presiding over a KCR-related meeting.
According to the discussion, the Karachi Circular Railways (KCR) project is critical for tackling the city’s traffic woes.
He also stated that the Sindh government was making attempts to expedite the project’s start date and requested that project documentation be completed as soon as possible.
The chief minister also urged them to handle the land issue for the project and expressed hope that work on the project would begin soon once it was approved by the China-Pakistan joint working group.
Earlier this month, it was revealed that Pakistan has asked China to expedite work on the $2 billion Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) and $10 billion Mainline-1 (ML-1) — the 1,872km railway track agreed to by the two countries presidents in November.
According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Planning and Development, Pakistan has “requested strong support from the National Development and Reforms Commission (NDRC) and other relevant Chinese government institutions to advance implementation of important projects like ML-1, KCR, and key energy projects in line with the leadership consensus.”
During Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Beijing last year, the Chinese political leadership committed to expediting ML-1 processing by activating their respective teams promptly.
KCR project
Last November, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) authorized Rs292.4 billion in funds for the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project, with a foreign contribution of Rs263 billion.
According to the state news agency, the project calls for the building of a 44-kilometer-long dedicated track of contemporary urban railway in Karachi, beginning at Drigh Road and continuing through neighborhoods such as Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Federal B area, Liaquatabad, North Nazimabad, Nazimabad, SITE, and Liyari.
