ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Railways has retrieved around 89 acres state land worth billions of rupees from illegal occupants under its recent anti-encroachment operation in Peshawar Division.
The department with the help of local district administration had demolished shops and illegal constructions erected on the railway land, an official in the Ministry of Railways told APP.
Several permanent and temporary structures were razed to recover the Pakistan Railways land from grabbers, he added. He said the department was making serious efforts to retrieve encroached land from the land grabbers.
A comprehensive survey was being carried out to identify the land encroached and occupied by miscreants.
The official said the campaign was being monitored by the Divisional Superintendents, Headquarters office and Ministry of Railways.
The Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and joint procedure order have been issued for strict implementation of this policy, the official added.
He said that First Information Reports (FIRs) were being lodged and cases were registered and sent to Pakistan Railways Judicial Magistrates for expeditious trial of encroachers.
The issue regarding illegal occupation and possession of Pakistan Railways land by government departments and institutions has also been taken up with the concerned departments, he added.
He said it was an ongoing campaign which would continue till the elimination and regularization of encroachments.
The official said Pakistan Railways owns 167,690 acres of land across the country, of which 90,326-acre is in Punjab, 39,428-acre in Sindh, 28,228-acre in Balochistan and 9,708-acre in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
