GUJRANWALA – Neither the commissioner nor the district coordination officer (DCO) bothered to visit any of the affected sites of Wednesday’s three bomb blasts, but the DCO issued a handout, later, and called all these bombs cracker explosions, negating the findings of the bomb disposal squad as well as of the CPO.
Under the old system, these two officers played a pivotal role in such crises and catastrophes. It is, perhaps, the outcome of the changed system that the commissioner and the DCO played no role and the police had to handle the situation. The provincial government should take the notice of it and define the role of its administrative officers.
Though no human loss was reported yet such situation could worsen. Not only administrative officers but also parliamentarians should come forward to join hands with the law-enforcing agencies in relief activities. Another alarming condition that was witnessed was of the bomb disposal squad which consisted of only three cops in Gujranwala and they too have been working without proper kits and modern equipment.
Wednesday’s blasts revealed that the bomb disposal squad could not function or diffuse any dangerous situation without putting lives of its members at risk. It should be properly equipped and trained. Another department which was missing on this occasion was government’s own civil defence which can only be shown in the city to hold walks. These bombings have exposed many weaknesses in the public sector departments which must be removed for the safety of citizens.
ADB REPRESENTATIVE VISITS WAZIRABAD: Asian Development Bank will survey the materialisation of a double track between Lahore and Lalamusa under Railway Development and Investment Programme. It was disclosed by Asian Development Bank representative Muhammad Khalil while surveying the track at Wazirabad. He said three phases of this programme would complete the dual track from Lahore to Peshawar. The second phase will start from Lalamusa to Rawalpindi and the third from Rawalpindi to Peshawar, he revealed.
Khalil said that overhead-bridges, modern communication system, signal systems and underpasses would be constructed under the programme and added that two computerised railway crossings were compulsory after every five kilometers under the law.
PPP SHOULD LEARN LESSON FROM EGYPT: Former federal minister Ghulam Dastgir Khan has said the PPP government should learn a lesson from the prevailing situation in Egypt. While talking to PML-N workers, Khan said the PPP government had failed to deliver and it had been passing time only by printing notes. He held the government responsible for inflation and poverty in the country.
The masses are in trouble only due to the bad governance and this attitude must be changed to facilitate the masses, he said. He added it was time to mend ways of ruling otherwise corruption and bad governance would end its rule.
