SADIQABAD - The residents put up resistance to the Pakistan Railways authorities and the police as the latter tried to remove the Katchi Abadies or slum areas leased out to some influential personalities in Nafees Colony, Rahim Yar Khan and forced the personnel to make a retreat. The inhabitants also staged a protest demonstration against PR authorities and the police personnel. Talking to the media, the residents said that they had been residing there for 40 years and it was cruelty and ruthlessness to remove their houses without making substitutable arrangements for them. They pledged to put up full resistance against such endeavours. On the occasion, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf district President Rana Raheel Ahmad said that to lease out the area consisting of more than 300 slum houses to influential people was inhumanity. He also assured the resident that his party would raise a voice against the action at all levels. Earlier, the PR officials flanked with the police started removing the houses with the help of heavy machinery. Resultantly, the residents came out of their homes and put up strong resistance to the force. Observing the furious people, they decided to give up the plan of retrieving the land for the time being. When contacted, the PR officials said that the land was the Railways property which would be retrieved at all costs, pledging that they would bow down to no pressure in this regard. Earlier a news agency reported that the PR had decided to lease out its land for establishing 50 hotels and the parties would not be permitted to use the land for any other purpose. PR officials were quoted as saying, The revenue to be generated through leasing out the commercial sites will be spent on upgradation of Pakistan Railways Carriage factories. They said that the total land owned by Pakistan Railways is 167,690 acre, out of which 126425 acre is being operationalised and 16,273 acre will be made useful in the future. Commercial land owned by Pakistan Railways is 367,275 acre, residential is 524,706 acre, land for agriculture use is 704,692 acre and leased land is 568,202 acre. During the last decade, they said that land mafia illegally occupied 334,325 acres of commercial, residential and agricultural land belonging to the PR in the country. They said that the PR .and, estimated to be worth more than several billion rupees, was now in the hands of Katchi Abadis or influential people who had founded slums on them. Despite valiant efforts, they said that PR had only managed to take back 1,654,092 acres of land. They added that the PR would lease out its land in Rawalpindi Division: Goods Approach Road; Taxila Cantt; Havelian; Gujar Khan; Sargodha; Jehleum, Gujar Khan, Haripur, CDL Workshop; in Karachi Division: Hyderabad; IOW Bungalow, Hyderabad; Opposite Habib Hotel, Hyderabad; Mirpurkhas; Sehwan; near Goods Shed Kalapul, Karachi; D-Area Kalapul main Korangi Road, Karachi Cantt; Peshawar Division: Kohat; Jaranwala; Ghakkar; Tobatek Singh; Eminabad; Kathala; Mammu Kanjan; Okara; Nankana Sahib; Multan Division: Aziz Hotel Chowk, Multan cantt; Bahawalpur; Jhang Saddar; DG Khan, Shorkot Cantt; Khanewal; Sahiwal; Arifwala; Sukkur Division: Bunder Colony, Sukkur; Rahim Yar Khan; Shikarpur; Sadiqabad; Quetta Division: Opposite Railway Station, Quetta and Jinnah Road, Quetta.