SARGODHA, Feb 7: Railways Divisional Superintendent (Rawalpindi) Ashfaq Khattak has declared the track from Shaheenabad to Malikwal dangerous for traffic.

During his recent visit to the track for inspection, he observed that instead of replacing the damaged wooden sleepers the workers had adjusted pieces that could lead to an accident any time. The railway officials are learnt to have asked guards and drivers to keep trains slow on the track.

The DS also observed that the repairing staff had used wooden nails instead of iron clips for binding the track.

A worker at the railway workshop store supplying such material told this correspondent on the condition of anonymity that neither wooden sleepers nor iron clips had been supplied here for the last decade. Therefore, he said, wooden patchwork and nails were being used for repairs.

He alleged that some of the higher-ups of the department were indulged in malpractice, as 480 bags of cement were supplied for repairs of the space between the railway track and road at rural level crossings in December 2004 and January 2005 but not even a single bag had been used. In fact, he continued, the whole of the cement had been distributed among the higher officials for their personal use.

Similarly, he said, crushed stone was not being laid along the track between Malikwal and Sargodha and Malikwal and Kundian because it was being disposed of privately. After every 15 days, he said, the road between the railway track on urban level crossing needed repairs, but the officials at the helm had virtually given up the practice and that could have serious repercussions.

The DS also expressed concern over the poor condition of five bridges (culverts) beneath the track from Rawalpindi to Pindi Rasool and ordered an inquiry against the assistant inspector for works and the PWI.

Assistant Engineer Asfeer Ayub Khan has been appointed an inquiry officer, who has started the proceedings and summoned the record of the officials responsible for maintenance of the culverts and the railway track from Malikwal to Sargodha and Malikwal to Kundian.

It is also reliably learnt that due to salinity and lowering of subsoil water level, the soil under the Malikwal-Sargodha track has caved in up to six inches. It is feared that if some urgent steps are not taken the railway track may become unusable.