The Senate Standing Committee on Pakistan Railways was informed on Thursday that over the past five years railways retrieved 4,000 acres of encroached land countrywide, worth Rs 15.7 billion.
Inspector General Railways Police Wajid Zia, while briefing the panel which met under the chairmanship of Senator Asad Al Khan Janeju, said that during the past five years more than 200,000 people were caught travelling in train without a ticket.
The panel expressed serious concerns over thousands of acres of encroached land; saying that recovery of the land must be top priority of the PR management. The panel directed the PR to take concrete steps in recovering state land from encroachers.
Wajid Zia told the Senate committee that railways had a land of 1,70,976 acres, while 3,179 acres land was currently encroached in different parts of the country. He informed the Senate body that 1,574 acres of land was encroached in Lahore, followed by 514 acres in Karachi, 528 acres in Sukkur, 248 acres in Multan and 225 acres in Rawalpindi.
The chief executive officer (CEO) PR informed the committee that live-tracking system has been activated in all trains to enable passengers to get information about train's timings and location on mobile phones. He said the tracker systems were installed in train engines across the country to keep update about the location of trains.
The passengers will receive all the information, including the train's timings, in Urdu and English languages. They would also get information during travel on engine failures and replacements, he added.
The committee stressed the need for amendments in the railway laws to make the performance of Railways Police effective. They further said that the mechanism to lease the Railways property should be reviewed in depth.
The officials of the Railways Ministry informed the committee that the rail route from Karachi to Dhabeji wasn't closed; rather it was expanded for smooth rail operations. The committee was further informed that the government had promised ownership rights to slum settlements erected before 1985.