DS Karachi emphasizes on improving Railways efficiency, safety

 By Abdul Qadir Qureshi 

(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Emphasizing the imperative need for ensuring immaculate safety aspect in train operation, the Divisional Superintendent Railways, Karachi Division, Kashif Rashed Yusufani, called upon the Divisional Officers and all other concerned personnel to contribute their bit in achieving the cherished objective of providing hazard-free service to railway passengers. 

He was speaking as chief guest at a one ‘Train Safery Operation seminar organized at the Technical Training Center on his directive. 

The seminar was attended by Divisional officers, Assistants, Train examiners, PWI, Guards, Station Masters and other relevant officials. The main objective was to acquaint them about how to take measures in advance to cope with accidents. 

The DS was appreciative of the officials and the staff members who were working efficiently despite problems of material and staff shortage.

He exhorted the officials and subordinates in charges to essential ensure carrying out now and then inspection of various railway installations and told them that timely inspections will surely reduce problems by 60-70 percent because such inspections would surely help pin point the safety related problems. 

He emphasized that no one should hide the problems, if identified, whether it related to track system, rolling stock or engine defection and the same should be forwarded to concerned officials for immediate remedial action.

“The staff must necessarily share the same with their officials as hiding the same or keeping it in abeyance, will be harmful for the railway,” he declared, adding that they will have to work together in making Pakistan Railways a profitable entity. 

His emphasis was that rules and regulations must be observed fully as only this could help the organization in making further advancements.

On the occasion Divisional Transportation Officer (DTO) Sajjad Ahmed Wagho, apprised the seminar participants about the importance of the event in detail and recalled that many lives were lost in trains accidents during the past few years besides accruing financial losses to the railway which also caused damage to the Railways credibility. 

The seminar was informed about three main reasons for accidents which were the condition of tracks, rolling stock problems and human error. Besides, natural calamities, subversion, material shortage and problems in defective signaling system were identified as other causes of accidents. 

The seminar proposed setting up of safety cell, procurement of safety materials, surprise inspections and taking immediate corrective measures of minor deficiencies as short term remedies. 

The seminar was attended, among others, by Deputy DS Shahid Hussain Sammpn, DCO Ishaq Baluch, DME-I Junaid Ahmed, DME-II Habibullah Maher, DN-I Kamran Ghauri, Assistant Operating Officer Shahid Hussain Khilji, Assistant Transportation Officer, Jahan Babar, Station Managers Karachi Cantonment, Karachi City, Keamari, Kotri and Hyderabad.

Significance of Diamer-Bhasha dam highlighted

By Masood Sattar Khan

(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Pakistan's newly posted Ambassador to China, Moin-ul-Haq has highlighted the importance of construction of the Diamer-Bhasha dam which is expected to bring about across the board benefits in socio-economic sectors of the country. 

The Ambassador in his twitter account highlighted the significance of the project apparently following the publication of an article in ‘The Global Times’ acclaimed as one of the most popular English newspapers in China. 

"The key project is yet another concrete example of close Pak-China Friendship" the Ambassador reckoned. 

The newspaper article titled ‘China aids construction of Pakistan’s ‘Three Gorges Dam’ despite pandemic’ had pointed out that despite the novel coronavirus pandemic, China and Pakistan were stepping up efforts on committed projects focusing on cooperation in industrial development, agriculture and the improvement of people's livelihoods. 

The Diamer-Bhasha Dam and Power Project, also referred to as the ‘Three Gorges Project’ joined a long list of bilateral cooperation efforts between the two countries. 

“As a country with an agricultural population accounting for about 60 percent of its total population and agriculture accounting for more than 20 percent of its GDP, the construction of the Diamer-Bhasha Dam remained of great strategic significance for improving Pakistan's water security and sustainable development and it has therefore been supported by successive governments,” Wang Zhihua, economic and commercial minister counsellor at the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, told the Global Times. 

"The Diamer-Bhasha Dam and Power Project, being the third largest dam in Pakistan, will achieve multipurpose objectives. It will increase the water storage capacity of Pakistan from 30 to 48 days. The people of Pakistan are grateful to China, which has once again decided to help Pakistan secure and ensure its strategic water security in the 21st century," Syed Hasan Javed, director of the Chinese Studies Center of Excellence at the National University of Science and Technology in Islamabad (NUST), remarked. 

The dam is scheduled to be completed by 2029. During the construction 16,500 jobs will be directly created.