Amid the Urs of Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, Pakistan Railways (PR) has decided to provide fool proof security to devotees, and has released a standard operating procedure. PR will also operationalise special trains to facilitate the passengers at different routes.
The decision was taken on Tuesday during a high-level meeting held under the supervision of Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Railways Sharaq Jamal.
The 765th, three-day annual Urs of Sufi Saint Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar will start from 15th of May.
According to SOPs, no passenger would be allowed to carry gas cylinders or any other explosive material with them.
DIG railways has also issued directions to all the superintendents of police to ensure the security of passengers and trains. He has also instructed them to monitor trains at the Lahore, Multan, Rohri, Sukkur, Jacobabad, Nawab Shah, Hyderabad, Kotri, Larkana, Dadu and Sehwan Sharif railway stations.
A bomb disposal squad along with the regional police officers will monitor the railways’ stations.
To deal with any untoward incident, divisional medical officer Karachi will set up a medical camp in Sehwan while divisional superintendent police Karachi will set up emergency camps till the ‘special’ trains return to the city.
The designated officials have also been directed to check every passenger’s luggage with metal detectors; extra personnel will also be deployed at every railway’s station in this regard. Moreover, two ambulances and one fire tender will be present at Sehwan Railways Station. To facilitate the devotees, a senior official of Pakistan Railways (PR) will be appointed on the specific stations to make the required announcements.
On the other hand, PR will run seven special trains from Karachi, Lahore, Faislabad, Kotri, Multan, Sukkar and Haiderabad along with running extra coaches on the same routes to facilitate the devotees.
