Over 150 railway crossings in the Sialkot district are unmonitored and without gates. Railway authorities have denied responsibility for the incident. A railways officer, Salman Butt, said, “We have tried installing gates and barriers but it makes no difference. People jump over them or walk around them and we can’t monitor everyone.”
Locals said that there were at least 150 unmonitored railway crossings in the district and that this had led to an increasing number of accidents. Most of the crossings are located near the railway track from Sialkot to Wazirabad via Sambrial and from Sialkot to Pasrur including various localities in Uggoki, Saahowala, Sambrial, Begowala, Adalatgarha, Alhar, Chawinda and Pasrur.
“A 100km of railway track from Sialkot to Narowal has nearly come apart as the entire line is layered with rust,” said a commuter, Nadeem, adding that he has been commuting on the train for several years and there has never been any gate or barrier at the crossing.
“Several hundred vehicles and donkey carts pass through these gate-less railway crossings daily. The authoritiescouldn’t care less,” said Uggoki resident Shumaila.
So far medical authorities have confirmed that dozens of people in the district have already lost their lives by crossing in front of oncoming trains. “There have been nearly 64 fatalities in the past two years near railway crossings,” police constable Kashif Bhutta said.
On Saturday, three children, brothers Naveed and Qasim and their younger sister Saira were crushed by a train. “The children were on their way back from school and decided to take a short cut as there was no gate,” said a protester, Ali Syed. A few days before this, two brothers were crushed to death under the wheels of a railway engine at a gate-less railway crossing near Uggoki.
Locals have said that ensuring there are gateways and barriers at all railway crossings is the duty of the Pakistan Railways and that the authorities had failed to ensure the security of locals despite repeated protests. The protesters said that they had repeatedly warned PR officials of the risks but their pleas had been ignored.
In addition, a 104 year-old railway track between Sialkot and neighbouring Occupied Jammu and Kashmir has been lying in a state of disrepair due to lack of proper attention. “Trains have been delayed and passengers have complained that the train has to make too many unscheduled stops for repair,” a train conductor Rasheed said.
PR authorities said that the government had already released funds for the repair of this railway service as several sections had been closed for over 30 years. “We will undertake all these repairs simultaneously,” Butt said.
“We cannot control the movement of people. We have repeatedly tried to place barriers but people still prefer to cross the tracks,” Butt said.
Meanwhile, the protesters also protested against PR authorities for neglecting the 129-year-old Sialkot Cantt Railway Station building.
“It is hardly fit to wait for trains anymore as there were heaps of trash in the tracks and near the benches,” said commuter Amna Waleed.
Locals said that the train station’s windows and doors were broken and that the authorities had not bothered to make any repairs even though funding for this purpose had been released by the government.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 14th, 2010.
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