ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has told the National Assembly that 74 Railway accidents took place across the Country from August 2018 to June 2019, many of which, were caused by the derailment of trains and unmanned level crossings, the Dispatch News Desk (DND) news agency reported.
In a written reply to a question asked by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Maiza Hameed, the minister told the House that out of a total of 74 railway accidents, 20 were caused by derailment of good trains, 19 by derailment of passenger trains and 20 by collusion of unmanned level crossing.
To another question by Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) Kishwer Zehra, Sheikh Rashid told that the Railway land measuring 163.836 Acers was leased out at (Jumma Goth, Project No. 15 Gulshan Yousaf), Karachi to Pakistan Railways Employees Cooperative Housing Society, Karachi and executed agreement in the year 1987, and an amount of Rs 3,964,813 was deposited by the Society in this respect.
The minister told that as far as the termination of the lease agreement is concerned, there is as such no record available of the question raised in National Assembly on November 28, 2016; however, the same was terminated on the directives of the Executives Committee of Railway board during its meeting held on December 22, 2006.
The railways minister further told that a complete ban was imposed by the Ministry of Railway in December 1999 for leasing of Railway land to Railway Cooperative Housing Societies hence no land could be earmarked for housing purpose of the Railway Employees after that. He told that the Supreme Court has also restricted to lease the land maximum up to five years.
