RAHIM YAR KHAN: Four labourers were injured when an under-construction canal bridge collapsed in Esanpur area of Abadpur town, some 55kms from here, on Saturday.

According to locals, construction work was in progress at the bridge on Gray Minor Canal near Ehsanpur headworks and labourers were working on its upper portion when it suddenly collapsed.

As a result, four labourers fell into the canal with the debris and were injured. They were shifted to the Sheikh Zayed Medical College Hospital (SZMCH).

According to some sources, there were allegations of use of substandard material in the construction of bridge.

Bahawalpur Irrigation Chief Engineer Khalid Bashir Chaudhry said the bridge was being constructed by the Punjab Highways Department and the National Engineering Service Pakistan (Nespak) monitored all the construction work to ensure quality control.

He said the contractor should have completed the construction work before the release of water in the canal.

He said there might be a chance of some technical fault in shuttering of the bridge, which could not bear the weight of the construction material and collapsed. The irrigation department only granted approval of construction of the canl bridges to the highwayS department, he added.

ROOF COLLAPS: A labourer was killed and a mason critically injured when the roof of a house they were repairing collapsed on them in Khanpur on Saturday.

According to Rescue 1122, the two persons were repairing the roof near Darbar-i-Hussain on Shahi Road when protective pillars caved in and both the labourer and the mason were trapped under the debris of the roof.

Rescuers shifted them initially to the Khanpur Tehsil Headquarters Hospital where the labourer succumbed to his injuries while the other was later shifted to Shaikh Zayed Medical College Hospital in a critical condition.

BUSES IMPOUNDED: RYK Regional Transport Authority (RTA) impounded 23 buses and other public transport vehicles for not following the Covid-19 SOPs.

RTA Secretary Riasat Ali told Dawn that during checking of inter-provincial public transport at Kotsabzal (Punjab-Sindh border), he impounded five buses entering into Punjab from Sindh despite a ban on such traffic movement on Saturday and Sunday.

He said that according to letter of the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department, Punjab government completely banned the inter-provincial and intra-city public transport, except private vehicles with 50pc occupancy.

He added that 8 more public transport vehicles were impounded in different areas of the district over Covid-19 SOPs violation. All the impounded vehicles were parked at kot Sabzal and Saddar police stations. A fine of Rs110,000 was collected from the drivers of these vehicles.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2021