November 30, 2006	Thursday	Ziqa'ad 8, 1427

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SIALKOT, Oct 29: The district government has been turning a blind eye to the overloading in boats being operated to transport people across river Tavi.

The negligence can result in any tragedy as many incidents of capsising had already occurred, claiming many lives during the last two years.

The boats, few in number, are the only source of transportation for thousands of people living in 85 Bajwat villages situated along Sialkot Working Boundary, as there was no bridge over the river.

The small wooden bridge over the river which connected the villages with Sialkot, was closed about five months back due to its dilapidated condition in rainy season when the river was in high flood. The department responsible for maintenance and repairs of the bridge has taken no steps to improve its condition.

In this scenario, the local villagers are at the mercy of the boatmen, who often indulge in overloading to make more money out of their trips across the river.

Besides a large number of people, the boats having a maximum capacity of 20 passangers, also carry metal milk containers, cattle, motorcycles and even cars across the river, which further increases the risk of capsising. The boatmen also overcharge fare from the villagers.

Talking to journalists, a councillor from Saddarpura village, Muhammad Shafi alias Chief Sahib, and several other people including Papa Ghulam Hussain, Sufi Ahmad Khan, Haji Abdul Rashid, Mehar Inayatullah and Bashir Saeen deplore that the district government authorities concerned were paying no heed to the complaints regarding overloading of boats which could result in some tragic incident.

They said it was highly risky to travel in the overloaded wooden boats as most of them were already damaged and were declared dangerous

About two years ago, the federal and provincial governments had started the construction of a bridge over the river with an estimated cost of Rs160 million, but the pace of work was very slow due to political difference among the local politicians. When contacted, some district government officials said there was no point in repairing the old wooden bridge as it gets washed away every rainy season because of high flood in the river.