Uber Cup badminton: India’s young women’s squad beats Canada 4-1
Chandigarh, October 10
A day after a train driver was killed at an unmanned crossing in Jalalabad, the Railways today virtually placed the Punjab Government in the dock, claiming its proposals to prevent such incidents had not received a response from the DCs concerned.
This prompted the Punjab and Haryana High Court to ask Punjab Advocate General Atul Nanda to step in. A top Railways official from the Ferozepur Division was directed to be present in court on the next date of hearing. There are 269 such crossings in Ferozepur Division alone.
As the case came up for resumed hearing, the counsel for the Railways sought permission to place on record a communication from the Divisional Railway Manager, Northern Railway, Ferozepur.
He submitted that to prevent such accidents, there was a move by the Railways to undertake safety measures —over-bridge, under-bridge, limited height sub-way and diversion or merger with the nearest manned crossing. A communication had been sent to the DCs concerned for no-objection certificates. But no reply had been received.
Nanda submitted that he would apprise the court within two weeks if such communication was pending with the DCs. The order came less than two months after the Bench framed a larger question on steps contemplated by theRailways to avoid accidents at unmanned railway crossings.
Amicus curiae Gaurav Chopra, referring to Sunday’s accident in Ferozepur, said the Railways was “casual” and directions must be issued for initiating appropriate steps at the earliest.
