MULTAN City News

Unplugged breach at Head Muhammadwala
People forced to cross river by boats
From Our Correspondent
MULTAN: The unplugged breach at Head Muhammadwala poses a serious threat to the lives of people who are forced to cross the Chenab River with the help of untrained boatmen due to negligence of the National Highways Authority.
According to a survey conducted by an NGO Pattan, thousands of people crossed the river daily through boats since the Multan Flood Management authorities dynamited the road leading to Head Muhammadwala Bridge to save the Multan city from disaster. It has been estimated that about 5,000 people crossed the river by boats being run by untrained people. Moreover, the boats are also in a dilapidated condition and a tragedy could occur anytime. It has also been observed that no emergency centre has been set up at the hazardous sites. The sailors are providing much-needed service to the passengers for Rs 20 one-way trip and approximately earn about Rs 100,000 in a day. This clearly shows the importance of the bridge. Passengers are paying price due to negligence of the National Highways Authority.
Locals have appealed to the NHA authorities to start reconstruction of the bridge without any delay. They also called for redesigning the bridge which was technically faulty one. They said that the width of the river in the area was about 10km, while the bridge was only 1km. They demanded that the bridge should be in proportion with the width of the river. They said that thousands of people would be at the mercy of floodwater if the breach was not plugged and the bridge not reconstructed immediately. They said that Rescue 1122 staff should be deployed at the site and life jackets should be provided to people crossing the bridge.