Punjab stops sale of Railways lands

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

Monday, May 31, 2010
By By Tariq Butt
ISLAMABAD: The Punjab government has officially stopped the sale of Railways land by the Pakistan Railways, warning the general public that any such land would not be leased, transferred or registered by the province.

The provincial administration has directed its divisional commissioners to tell senior Pakistan Railways officials in their areas of jurisdiction to immediately stop public auction for leasing/ licensing of hundreds of acres of urban and agricultural lands.

The decision has the potential to blow up into a serious crisis between the federal government and the provinces as the entire Railways land, except a tiny part in Islamabad, is located in the provinces, thousands of acres of which is lying unused and abandoned while thousands of acres have been sold in the past by the Railways to private citizens and businesses.

The stand taken by the Punjab is ultimately going to end up in the courts as the Punjab claims that the lands have been given to Railways for use and if it has no plan to use such land, it has to be returned to the Punjab and cannot be sold to other parties as basically it is provincial property.

“In most of the cases, the commissioners have conveyed the decision of the Punjab government that it would not allow the auction to go ahead,” a senior official told The News.

However, when contacted, Divisional Superintendent of the Pakistan Railways, Lahore, Javed Anwar, said the commissioner phoned him in this connection and it was agreed to hold a meeting to ponder over the issue.

He said the decision to auction the Railways land for leasing/ licensing was taken by the Railways Headquarters that alone could change it. He said the land lying idle was being put to some use.

Javed Anwar said that this practice was being followed since years. He said that whenever the Railways would need the land so leased, it would get it vacated. He said there was no point in keeping the land abandoned.

However, the Punjab official said that they had officially notified for the information of the general public that people should not participate in the auction as the provincial government would not transfer, register or approve building plans of such property.

But Javed Anwar said that no transfer or registry was required for the land so auctioned for leasing or licensing. It is given for temporary use for a specific period.

He said that it was for his headquarters to take a decision in consultation with the provincial governments about their demand that they should be given half of the land since all this belonged to them.

Federal Railways Secretary Samiul Haq Khliji told The News that the matter of auction of land for leasing and licensing purposes was handled at the divisional levels where their in charge officers take decisions.

The Punjab official said that under the rules if the land given to the Railways by the provinces was not utilized for the particular purposes and was thus surplus, it couldn’t be sold, leased or licensed to private parties without the approval and consent of the provinces.

A few weeks back, the Pakistan Railways sponsored an advertisement in newspapers, offering to the general public leasing/licensing of the land. A total of 207 properties were proposed to be put under the hammer in districts of Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Narowal, Hafizabad, Qila Sheikhupura, Okara and Tandlianwala.

The land was offered for use for commercial, stacking, nursery, cultivation and agriculture purposes. The leasing/licensing period varies from one to 10 years. Applicants were required to deposit earnest money of Rs5,000, Rs10,000, Rs25,000 or Rs30,000, depending on the nature of the property offered.

Five properties measuring 160, 161, 162, 67 and 68 acres located at Kot Lakhpat Lahore were offered for lease for commercial purposes. Similarly, four properties measuring 1.6 acres, 1.12 acres, 1.26 acres and 3.22 acres were offered in Gujranwala district.

The Punjab official felt that after the warning by the provincial government, the general public would desist from taking part in the auction that he said the Railways must stop forthwith.