KARACHI, April 18 A girl student of the NED University of Engineering and Technology was crushed to death by a Karachi University bus near the KU`s Silver Jubilee Gate on Saturday morning.

Faiza Nadeem Zaidi was the only daughter of Faraz Zaidi, a resident of Ghazi Town, Malir.

The driver, Yawar, was arrested and an FIR (145/9) was registered against him by the Mobina Town police on behalf of the state under Section 320 (punishment for manslaughter by rash driving) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Faiza was a 2nd-year student of the department of computer information systems at the NED university. The accident took place when she was getting off the bus.

Eyewitnesses said the driver did not stop the bus at the NED university and the girl was eager to get off and walk back to her university, which had been left far behind. As she tumbled down the footboard and fell on the road, another KU bus coming from behind crushed her. Both drivers off-loaded the students and sped away. There was no intervention from the Rangers posted at the Silver Jubilee gate.

The students who gathered at the spot immediately took the injured student to a private hospital located at Nipa Chowrangi. However, the doctors at the hospital refused to treat her, saying that accident cases were not entertained at the hospital. Upon hearing this, the students took the injured girl to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where she was declared dead on arrival.

Later, a number of NED students staged a sit-in in front of the university`s main gate and then marched up to the KU`s Silver Jubilee gate. They were demanding the immediate arrest of the erring driver and an increase in the number of KU buses.

Though the student protest was peaceful and no class boycott was announced by any group to protest the girl`s death, no KU bus was available in the afternoon and students had to walk all the way from their departments and institutes to the gate.

Talking to Dawn, Prof Dr Zulqarnain Shadab, adviser to the vice-chancellor on transport, said the police would determine the extent of the driver`s negligence. “It is premature to talk about the driver`s negligence. The suspect is in police custody and the matter would be thoroughly investigated.”

About the shortage of buses, he said the university lacked funds for the purpose and any donation in this regard would be welcome.

Asked why the university never approached the Higher Education Commission on the issue, he said “I have been on this post since 2007 and when I took over, the HEC had already started reducing its grants to universities. I have submitted proposals in writing to the university administration for improvement in the transport system, but the response was not encouraging as a shortage of funds was mentioned as the roadblock.

“Karachi is home to many rich people who can help resolve this issue affecting thousands of students. A series of communication is under way with private concerns in this regard,” he added.

The issue of rash driving and lack of adequate transport was also taken up by the Karachi University Teachers Society in December last year on the complaint of a teacher. However, no positive response was received from the administration.

No NED university official was available for comment.

The adjoining KU and NED universities, situated on the same road and playing host to thousands of students, lack an efficient transport system. Most NED students travel in KU buses as the engineering university runs fewer buses for its students.

Though overloaded university buses have remained a major source of inconvenience to students and have also caused injuries and deaths in the past, no significant step has ever been taken by these universities to resolve the issue on a permanent basis. At present, the KU runs 27 buses for over 25,000 students and the NED has 13 buses for 6,000 students. Both universities have secured funding of billions of rupees from the HEC in recent years for different projects, but no step has been taken to improve the transport facility for the students.

The university spread over 1,250 acres has expanded greatly over the years. Today, it has 53 departments and around 14 institutes and classes are held in both morning and evening shifts. In the morning, no shuttle service is available after 10am due to which not only students, but visitors who come to the university for different purposes have to face a lot of inconvenience in reaching their relevant departments. To cash in on this situation, the university has allowed a few rickshaws to operate in the university and reap undue profits.