Before I
present the stats of lives claimed by railway accidents during the tenure of
Khawaja Saad Rafique. I’d like to express my heartfelt condolences to the families
of the victims of the Lodhran accident that happened today in the morning. I
will also take this opportunity to express my condolences to all the lives
affected by the poor management of Railways in Pakistan. The statistics
presented have been collected from various news reporting agencies and articles
written by their reporters.
2013:
On 6th
July, 2013 a rickshaw collided with a train at a level crossing near
Sheikhupura, Punjab. This accident claimed the lives of 14 people while one
person was injured.
On 26th
July, 2013 a train heading from Rawalpindi to Lahore was derailed near Gujranwala.
This lead to the sad demise of 2 people whereas several were injured.
2014:
On 7th May 2014
Karakoram express was derailed near Bandhi railway station, which is located at
least 55km from Nawabshah, claiming the innocent lives 2 people while 15 others
were injured.
11th
November 2014 witnessed a major accident when a passenger coach collided with a
truck near Theri Bypass in Khairpur leading to the loss of 58 lives.
2015:
On 3rd
July, 2015 a passenger train derails as a bridge over a canal near Gujranwala
collapses from under the train. 19 passengers died while several were injured
among the total 300 passengers.
On 20th
July, 2015 Six members of a family die as their car collides with a Karachi
bound train at an unnamed railway crossing at the Pale Jani railway station in
Matiari.
1st
November, 2015 witnesses the Aab-e-Gum derailment. The jaffar express derails
at Aab-e-gum leading to the deaths of 20 people and injuring 96 others.
2016:
On 15th
September, 2016 a passenger train collides with a freight train near Multan
leading to the death of 6 people and injuring more than 150.
On 3rd
November, 2016 two passengers train collide near Karachi Landhi railway station
claiming the lives of at least 21 people and injuring more than 60.
On 8th
October, 2016 a freight trains collides with a bus carrying workers of a
factory at Landa level crossing near Gujjar chowk. This collisions takes the
lives of 4 people while 10 others are injured.
2017:
Today on
6th January, 2017 a rickshaw collides with a train at Lodhran
Punjab. This leads to the sad demise of 8 people in total; comprising of 7
students and the rickshaw driver while 5 more students are severely injured.
If we
were to formulae statistics based just on deaths and injuries per year, the
graph would look something like this:
These
deaths may have been reduced if not avoided completely if we had implemented
the internationally practiced safety standards. As you may have heard, if you
had listened to the Lodhran incident, that the operator of the gate/crossing
didn’t have any communication equipment. He stated that when it wouldn’t be
foggy, he would see the train coming and close the gates. Or if it was foggy,
he would listen to the whistle and close the gate. Such primitive techniques at
such an age is an insult to the entire railway industry.
Why hasn’t
the ministry employed engineers and implemented simple yet effective sensor
based technology to deal with the opening and closing of gates? The concept of
these operators is not necessary. If we went for automation and regularly
maintained and checked these sensors and the affiliated technology, we can
effectively regulate the flow of traffic and thus avoid so many deaths. All the
previous ministers and especially the current minister are answerable as to why
despite the world evolving around them; they have worked hard to make sure that
our railway remains in the stone age. Thus consequently, our innocent people
end up becoming victims to it.
The responsible
should answer for the lives that could have been saved. They shouldn’t just
collect their fat pay checks. This too falls as their responsibility and as it
is evident that they have not delivered, they must now be held accountable; it
is only just.
