Missing safety railings on bridges a threat to commuters

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, December 29

The safety railings on bridges constructed over the defence drain running alongside the international border with Pakistan are either rusted, broken or stolen as a result of which commuters run the risk of meeting with a mishap.

Hundreds of villages across the defence drain, towards the border side, are connected by more than 40 bridges in the border belt. However, not even a single one could be found in perfect shape as far as safety of the commuters is concerned.

Owing to the absence of safety railings, crossing bridges is fraught with risks for commuters, especially at night and on foggy days or nights. Residents say that rusty railings on bridges can be a danger for people coming from outside. “Local residents know about the condition and as such take precautions but those coming from other places do not know this,” said Sukhwinder Singh of Attari.The defence drain was dug up decades ago to serve the twin purposes — a strategic military barrier in case of infiltration and to get rid of excess rainwater. Apart from minor accidents on these bridges, in 2016, seven school children had been killed after their school bus fell into the defence drain near Mahawa village.

Residents demand that the government should take notice of the problems faced by them. “As our villages are along the border, there is a big gap as far as development is concerned between villages and cities,” said another Mandeep Singh of Cheema village.

They complain iron railings of many bridges were stolen by thieves or drug addicts in the past. At places, the safety railings have not been repaired even after the occurrence of accidents and they are still dangling.