Lahore:
Theft events in Pakistan railways have reached alarming levels, with moving trains, stationary wagons and even sophisticated computer-based signal systems that fall prey for criminals, revealed insiders on Wednesday.
Despite high claims from the new rail minister, both the railway police and the administrative machines appear to be in a deep gossip, unable to contain the growing wave of crimes potentially paralyzing railways.
The sources said the situation continues to worsen as studies reveal that not only passengers were drunk and robbed aboard moving trains, but specialized copper lines and other key assets were stolen in the middle of Journey.
“PR transports nearly 50 million passengers each year and carry thousands of tons of shipping from Karachi to remote parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. However, security measures are lacking across the network seriously,” they said.
Daily thefts of valuable materials from different trains, railway stations and installations, including Lahore, have become disturbing routine.
Just last week, valuable cargo was reported from loaded wagons parked at the Pattoki station. The 56 wagons had been on their way from Karachi to Lahore and were stationary in Pattoki for a few hours when thieves hit.
As a result, wagons that were removed by their equipment were reproduced non-operational and had to be filled with replacement materials before being sent again.
Similarly at the old railway shed, key components such as power lines and plugs were stolen. In addition, the computer -based interconnection system was not spared with thieves digging underground to extract its crucial parts.
In another incident, electrical wires from the old dieser shed were stolen.
The PR -sources said the situation was serious and warned that repeated and increased thefts of underground CBI components pose a serious threat to the integrity of the system. They also warned that the maintenance of the infrastructure has become extremely difficult, if not impossible, due to the violations.
In light of the deteriorating situation, the railway authorities meanwhile have called on the railway police to implement immediate and strict measures to protect this critical infrastructure.
In an attempt to tackle the crisis, the Inspector General for Railways, police Rao Tahir, summoned an emergency meeting to discuss strategies to limit material theft.
During the session, the question of timely uniform distribution and budget allocation was also discussed.
IG instructed all SPs to focus specifically on preventing thefts of railway materials, especially signal equipment that is repeatedly targeted.
