It would take time to determine the causes of collapsing a railway bridge in Gujranwala, which resulted in the loss of 19 precious lives as engine and three carriages of train fell into the canal below.
Rescue operation was underway right after the tragic incident to take out the dead bodies and the missing ones. But it was a regrettable the way we as a nation answer to the tragedies. What is regrettable to note is the early blame game that has led to tensions between those officials responsible for law enforcement and those responsible for maintenance of the bridge. The former said it was unlikely to be an act of sabotage, whereas the latter said the bridge, which is more than a century old, was in working condition as trains passed over it regularly. Here if we can put a glance in the recent history of collapsing the bridges we would came to know that it was not the first railway bridge which collapsed. What is worth bearing in mind, though, is that this is not the first bridge collapse in recent years, although it is the first one involving a railway bridge. Last month an old bridge collapsed in Peshawar which killed three individuals.
After the initial inquiry report, we came to know that few members of staff which was assigned to check the track and bridge did not perform duties properly. Bridge was over hundred year old, railway administration need to identify old constructed bridges and reconstruct them to save the precious lives. In our country people hesitate to travel on railway and if the railway administration would keep putting a deaf ear to the reservations of travelers, it would be hard for railway to become a profitable organization.
Railway administration must take steps on emergency basis to get the confidence of travelers back.
