LAHORE, April 17: The Punjab government on Monday informed the Lahore High Court that the construction of a bridge and an underpass at the railway level crossing at Mughalpura was being considered to overcome traffic problem.

A report submitted by the Punjab Communication and Works Department on the hearing of a writ petition seeking a court direction against negligence of the City District Government Lahore and other provincial departments in the incident of an explosion in a bus on December 11 last on Ghazi Road, said a bridge was planned about two decades ago and the project had now been included in the annual development programme.

The court adjourned for April 26 further hearing of the writ petition with a direction to a deputy attorney-general to submit a report on behalf of the Pakistan Railways and other departments concerned.

The petitioner moved the Supreme Court soon after the incident in which 23 passengers were killed and 11 injured after the explosion of fireworks being transported in the public vehicle with the request to the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take a suo moto action. The apex court directed the petitioner to approach the Lahore High Court which took up the petition on Jan 31 and issued notices to the district nazim, the transport, home, health and C&W departments.

The court asked the Punjab government about measures which were necessary to avert such incidents in the future and directed the additional advocate-general to ensure that the provincial government submitted a plan for the safety and security of the public transport.

The petitioner submitted that the government did not seem to have learnt any lessons from the tragic incident as it had taken no measures to rein in manufacturers and traders and regulate transportation of fireworks.