10,000 Acres of Pakistan Railways’ Land Illegally Occupied For Homes

According to a national daily report, approximately 10,000 acres of land owned by Pakistan Railways (PR) are currently occupied illegally by local people. The report added that many of them are using the land for residential purposes across the country. Despite facing various challenges, the railways are optimistic about achieving its land revenue collection target of Rs. 5 billion for the current financial year, ending on June 30th. A senior official of PR told the national daily that 9,644 acres of their 168,858 acres total land is in unlawful possession of the land grabbers across the country. The senior official blamed the provincial governments for not helping the railways in retrieving the land from the illegal occupants and removing encroachments. According to documents obtained by Dawn, Pakistan Railways’ total land, spanning 168,858 acres, is allocated as follows: 126,426 acres utilized for operational purposes, 6,061 acres reserved for future operational use, 4,385 acres designated for station and staff colonies, 2,987 acres leased out to government and defense departments, 562 acres for regularized Katchi Abadis, 308 acres with commercial revenue potential, and 4,692 acres of barren land that could potentially be utilized for agriculture. The documents further revealed that a total of 12,777 acres have been leased out to public and private parties in all nine divisions of Pakistan Railways across the country. The leased land comprises 9,260 acres allocated for agriculture and 530 acres for commercial purposes. In the Rawalpindi division, 654 acres of land have been leased out for agriculture, along with 86 acres for commercial purposes, and 162 acres have been leased out to government departments. In the Lahore division, 2,024 acres have been leased out for agriculture, 150 acres for commercial use, and 1,436 acres to government departments. In the Mughalpura division of Lahore, 14 acres of commercial land have been leased out, and an additional 17 acres in this division have been leased out to government or defense departments. In the Multan division, 5,531 acres of agricultural land have been leased out, along with 120 acres for commercial purposes, and an additional 370 acres leased out to government departments. Furthermore, large portions of railway land have also been leased out in Quetta, Peshawar, and Sukkur. In response to a question, the officer stated that Pakistan Railways had decided, in principle, not to designate illegally occupied land as Katchi Abadis under the relevant laws, which typically regularize such possessions by allotting the land to the occupants. In response to another question, he revealed that Pakistan Railways had collected Rs3 billion so far through land revenue collection. He hoped that the total target of Rs. 5 billion would be achieved by June 30th.