NAROWAL: The railway station of Narowal is being revamped by the consultants of the National Engineering Services of Pakistan (Nespak) at a cost of Rs539 million and will be completed by August this year.

Federal Minister for Planning and Development Department Ahsan Iqbal Chaudhry had inaugurated the project work with Federal Minister for Railways Khwaja Saad Rafique in February 2016.

The old building of the colonial era will be replaced with a new building reflecting the Islamic architecture, on the desire of Mr Iqbal. The covered area of the Narowal Railway Station is 59,046 sq ft.

The level of the platform will be equal to the floor of the train so that the passengers may not face any difficulty in boarding or getting down the train. A special tile track will be made for the visually challenged passengers. One waiting-room is being constructed for general passengers and another for first class passengers. In order to ensure the security of the passengers, CCTV cameras will be installed. Clean, cold and warm water will be available while two air water head tanks will also be constructed.

A disposal station has been built to treat sewage and solid waste. The offices will be on the front side of the platform whereas on its rear side a shopping centre is being built so that the passengers buy edibles and other things. In front of the platform, a V shaped park is being constructed on six acres so that the passengers may spend their time there.

Such railway stations will be built at Bahawalpur, Sahiwal, Okara, Raiwind, Yousufwala, Gujranwala and Hasanabdal.

Nespak Resident Engineer Muhammad Akmal said that the labourers were working day in and day out to complete the project on time.

Anjuman Shehrian president Shaikh Saaer Ali said the project would benefit hundreds of the passengers who will get a good quality facility.

Minister Iqbal said the upgrade of the railway track of Narowal-Lahore and Narowal-Wazirabad sections would be carried out and the number of trains would increase.

Presently, three up and as many down trains facilitate on average 2,000 passengers altogether at the Narowal station.

Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2017