LAHORE: Pakistan Railways (PR) Lahore administration has retrieved a 25-acre piece of land worth Rs5 billion from illegal occupants near Mahmood Booti in a day-long operation on Monday.As per PR officials, the land is a part of a major chunk of the railway land measuring 129 acres, worth Rs50 billion. The efforts are underway to reclaim the remaining 79 acres, they say.

`It is a great achievement, as the reclaimed land will increase the railway`s income. The possession of various properties built on the land has been taken by railway teams, whereas the notices to vacate the rest of the properties under the law have been issued,` a senior official of the PR`s Lahore division explained while talking to Dawn on Monday.

`The operation was led by the Deputy Divisional Superintendent Ms FatimaBilal-a senior official from the 30th Common Training Programme (CTP), the official added.

According to a document, the (129 acres of) railway land in Mehmood Booti area is situated along the 6.5km-long strip, out of which 25 acres have been reclaimed.

The reclaimed land was under unauthorised occupation of a housing scheme -New Shalimar Scheme -and some other business concerns. The official says that after retrieval of the land, the entrance gate of the scheme has been sealed.

He says that Section-5 Notices were also served to Dewan Foods which wassealed during the operation, whereas notices were also issued again to other occupants.

He says the reclaimed land shall be taken as per Railway Land & Property Rules, and put up for public auction.

And the first right of refusal shall be offered to the sitting occupants with buildup structures of reclaimed land, he adds.

`Most parts of the 129 acres land are under illegal occupation of several people who have built structures of various nature-residential, commercial, industrial etc [on it]. The 25 acres retrieved land also has a number of structures, the official explained.