Railway crossing turns into death trap

Over 50 lives lost in a decade, frequent closures disrupt routine activities

ADDA GAMBER:

Despite being one of the most prominent towns in the Sahiwal district and located along the vital GT Road, Adda Gamber continues to be deprived of essential development projects — particularly infrastructure that could save lives.

A long-standing and life-threatening issue of Adda Gamber and surrounding villages is the railway crossing located just a few hundred yards from the Okara Cantonment Railway Station.

This crossing, situated dangerously close to the GT Road, frequently shuts down for extended periods as all trains traveling between Peshawar, Lahore, and Karachi pass through this route.

The closure of this crossing, often for multiple trains at once, leads to miles-long traffic jams on both sides.

Villagers, students, lawyers, government employees, and daily commuters attempting to reach Sahiwal or Okara are frequently caught in the gridlock.

With no overhead bridge or underpass available, many risk crossing the railway tracks directly, resulting frequently in tragic accidents.

In the past decade alone, at least 50 lives have reportedly been lost due to accidents caused by congestion, risky crossings, or delays in emergency response.

Ambulances have often been stuck in traffic, unable to reach hospitals in time, leading to avoidable fatalities.

Several local residents expressed frustration over repeated unfulfilled promises by elected representatives about the issue.

The members of the national and provincial assemblies from the area, they allege, only visit the residents during election campaigns and disappear afterward, leaving critical issues faced by them unresolved.

"Thousands of people use this route every day, but our appeals for the construction of a flyover or underpass have been ignored," said a local resident.

"We have lost lives,

time, and hope," he complained.

Citizens have demanded of the federal railways minister and other relevant authorities to intervene and address the issue urgently and construct an overhead bridge or underpass at the Gamber railway crossing.

They said such an initiative would result in preventing further loss of life and ease the daily suffering of commuters.