KARACHI: The tragic incident of the Gujrat school van blast that took 17 lives has moved many to tears. Such incidents are not new and according to the Civil Society Front report, more than 2,000 innocent people, of all ages and genders, have fallen prey to CNG cylinder blasts, which is more than the number killed by drone attacks in 2011.
It is not only sheer carelessness of public transport owners and drivers but also criminal negligence on the part of the Environment Protection Agency and traffic police officials, who are supposed to check on the fitness of vehicles before issuing them fitness certificates. There are countless such vehicles running on our roads with the knowledge of the authorities concerned but they turn a blind eye on them and wait for a tragedy to occur before coming into action.
I myself, on several occasions, have had heated arguments with school van drivers, who plainly refuse to take blame for running vehicles, which have sub-standard CNG cylinders installed in them. The gravity of the matter demands that everyone raise their voice against all culprits on all platforms and urge the authorities concerned to take serious measures to control and prevent such incidents from happening in the future, rather than announcing just financial compensation for the aggrieved families. Loss of life is irrecoverable and no one can put a price on it.
Muhammad Asif Raja
Published in The Express Tribune, May 29th, 2013.
