MIRPURKHAS, May 5: The railway engineering department has completed work of changing one kilometre meter gauge track into the broad gauge. The programme for changing the track broad gauge is now being carried out from Khokhropar to Mirpurkhas instead of Mirpurkhas to Khokhropar, railway sources told Dawn on Thursday.

Following the directives of the federal government and allocation of funds, railway engineering department had earlier decided to start work from Mirpurkhas to Khokhrapar for which around 8,000 sleepers and iron material were dispatched through special goods train.

Work was started but in the initial stage the engineering department changed the programme and shifted the material to the Khokhrapar railway station to start work from the Khokhrapar railway station to the zero point border line to cover a distance of about eight kilometres.

Sources said that with the help of about 200 railway workers, work was launched from the Khokhrapar railway station towards the zero point and it was completed up to one kilometre.

Sources said the railways minister, railway chairman and other officials would arrive on May 9 while the railway minister would inaugurate work near the Mirpurkhas railway station.

WATERCOURSE LINING: The project director of the National Programme On-farm Water Management, Mr Mohammad Younis Dagha, has said that lining of watercourses in Sindh will be completed within four years as the federal government had allocated Rs66 billion for the project to avoid water wastage.

He was presiding over a meeting held here on Thursday to review ongoing work of lining in Mirpurkhas, Tharparkar and Umerkot districts

He said in initial stage lining of watercourses was in speed but for the last two months its speed got slow.

He directed officials to accelerate the pace of work.

He said in first phase 2,500 watercourses would be lined.

He directed concerned DCOs to supervise the work and complete it within fixed time.

Those attended the meeting included DCO Khursheed Naeem Malik, Tharparkar DCO Aftab Memon and EDO revenue Umerkot, EDO agriculture and officers of the on-farm water management.

Earlier, Mr Dagha inaugurated a watercourse in Gowanda farm.

He examined on-going work of watercourses of Jamrao and Mirpur minor.