Villagers pay tribute to the seven children who were killed in the accident, at Muhawa village near Amritsar on Thursday. (Express photo)
Two years after seven schoolchildren were killed as their bus fell off a narrow bridge, due to its broken railing, in a defence drain near Muhawa village of Attari Assembly constituency in Amritsar district, it is yet to see a construction. This despite promises by Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu of construction of the railing.
Muhawa and Thuluwal touches Indo-Pakistan border and students from these villages need to travel long distances. Since the accident, the DAV school bus is taking a longer route to fetch the children from the village. On Thursday, Muhawa villagers protested on the bridge to observe the second anniversary of the accident with candles, highlighting the apathy of the government machinery.
Not just the villagers had been raising this issue repeatedly with the Punjab government, local boy Karanbeer Singh too brought it to the notice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi this January 24, while receiving Sanjay Chopra bravery award for saving 15 lives, along with his sister’s in the same accident.
Karanbeer said, “I have joined a college in Chandigarh. My sister still travels on the same school bus. However, as there is still no railing, the school bus takes a longer route. The bridge was repaired after the accident. But still, no railing has been installed. The bus travels more than 15 km extra every day to take a long turn to avoid this bridge. But, still many other school buses use it every day and it can result in another accident any day. I had asked the Prime Minister to give funds to complete the construction of the bridge.”
Jaswinder Singh Jahangir, who had unsuccessfully contested the Assembly elections on an Aam Aadmi Party ticket from Attari constituency, said this bridge has become a perfect example of government apathy. “Death of seven children has failed to jolt the government. We should call it murder because now delay in constructing a railing has proved that the accident occurred because the authorities have no sense of responsibility,” said Jahangir.
Amritsar Deputy Commissioner Kamaldeep Singh Sangha didn’t answer the call made by The Indian Express.