LAHORE, Oct 7: No repair work was carried out on the Ran Pathani bridge despite it was proposed to authorities two years ago, Minister for Railways Shaikh Rashid Ahmad said on Saturday.

“Four officers have been suspended from service and show-cause notices have been issued to another 10 in the light of the inquiry report on the collapse of the bridge that resulted in suspension of rail traffic to and from Karachi for a considerable period,” the minister said at a press conference at the railways headquarters here.

The bridge collapsed because of erosion of streambed below the foundation of piers 2, 3 and 4. Silting up of nearly half of its spans, causing 50 per cent reduction in the waterway, had increased the velocity and scour in the channels resulting in the bridge collapse, the minister said.

It was in the knowledge of the railways’ Karachi division that the foundation of the bridge had been exposed during 2003. The headquarters office had received a proposal on April 10 for carrying out repair work but it remained under correspondence between the Karachi division and the headquarters and was not approved in two years.

The technical soundness of the proposal, submitted by the Karachi division, was also reported as questionable as it concentrated on protection of foundations having excessive scour, without realising that half of the waterway of the bridge was silted up.

Mr Ahmad said the Karachi division authorities were also found responsible for mismanagement in handling the crisis after the collapse of the bridge. Arrangements were made in haphazard or random manner without any analysis to assess the quantum of work that caused delays in refunds and inconvenience to passengers in transportation between Hyderabad and Karachi. There was inadequate passenger assistance at the two stations.

The officers suspended from service are: Nasir Zaidi, former Karachi deputy superintendent and now an OSD in the ministry; Niamat Masih, deputy chief engineer, bridges; Sohail Shaikh, divisional engineer-III, Karachi; and Saleem Zafar, assistant engineer-III, Karachi.

About special trains to be run on the occasion of Eid, the minister said passengers travelling on Eid day would get 50 per cent concession in fares in all trains.

He said rail traffic on the Dargai-Mardan route would be revived and rehabilitation work on the track would begin soon.

He said a VIP and an economy class train for passengers and a carriage train for delicate goods would be run from next year, which would be observed as “Awami khidmat ka saal”.