LAHORE:Absence of safety railings has turned the majority of the flyovers in the City into death zones, especially for the bikers. Travelling on a city flyover as a biker showed that the biker was equal to the side edge of the flyover and any hit can throw rider down the bridge resulting in a fatal accident.
The recent death of a woman who died after falling off the Akbar Chowk flyover near College Road raised serious questions about the professional wisdom of the engineering wizards of the LDA who despite knowing that motorcyclists travel on extreme left had taken no measure for their safety.
According to Rescue 1122 officers, the deceased was identified as 58-yearold Najma, wife of Akram. They said some months back a similar accident occurred on the same bridge and two lives were lost. Residents of different areas where ‘unsafe’ flyovers existed, including Ferozepur Road, Shahkam Chowk, Akbar Chowk, Azadi Chowk, Shahdara, Railway Station, PECO Road have appealed to the CM to take strict action against the top planners who had ‘forgotten’ to install safety railings on the bridges.
A senior officer of LDA’s Engineering wing claimed that the proposal of installing safety railing on the bridge’s left edges was presented but was rejected due to high expenses. When contacted, Lahore DC said this was the domain of LDA while a senior officer of Tepa also declared that installing a safety railing on the flyover was a necessity to ensured public safety.
The News contacted several senior officers of LDA’s Engineering Wing but none was available for comments. However, later, LDA DG Tahir Farooq while talking to The News said he himself visited the bridge to see how a person can fell off the flyover. He said he directed the engineering wing to prepare feasibility for installing a safety railing on the Akbar Chowk flyover.
Replying to a question that the situation of safety at majority of the flyover in the City was same, the DG said it was too costly and will take time but LDA will surely take all safety measures to save public lives.
