TOBA TEK SINGH: The Pakistan Railways has started demolishing the building of more than a century old abandoned railway station outside Chak 330-GB, as no train has been stopping here for the last 10 years.

This railway station was established in 1911 after rail track was laid from Shorkot Cantonment to Lahore via Pirmahal, Kamalia, Mamukanjan and Nankana Sahib.

Located outside Chak 330-GB, and initially named Khikha railway station, it used to be the only public transport link for the residents of at least a dozen villages in the area to the rest of the country, as there was no road network then.

The station was later named after Capt Naim Ashfaq, a resident of Chak 33 GB, who had embraced martyrdom in the then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1971 war.

Muhammad Khurshid, an education department employee belonging to the village, told Dawn that the last train had stopped at the station around 10 years ago.

Since then, he said, the railway station’s building has been lying abandoned, turning into a den of drug addicts.

Railway officials say that after the building’s demolition, the debris will be transported to Lahore for auction.

MOU: An MoU had been signed between Fesco and the Punjab government to provide relief to consumers in electricity bills for the months of August and September.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2024