KARACHI: Thousands of people on Tuesday gathered at the Karachi Cantonment railway station to travel to their desired locations from the city as train operations, which are going to be shut by midnight today, remains the last travelling option amid Sindh-wide lockdown, media reported.
According to the footage available, a large number of commuters, eyeing to travel to interior Sindh and Punjab gathered at the station to avail the travelling facility.
The incompetency of the railway authorities to deal with the situation was exposed while handling the passengers as no preventive measures were adopted despite strict directives for social distancing and use of hand sanitizers.
There were no hand sanitizers or other measures at the Karachi Cantonment station to detect if the passengers travelling in the crowded trains are free of the coronavirus symptoms.
It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan Railways has announced the closure of all passenger trains across the country till March 31 in order to contain the spread of coronavirus.
According to a notification released by Ministry of Railways, the train service will remain suspended from 12:00 am (Wednesday) till March 31.
The railway authorities has said that those who booked their advance tickets from the reservation counters should contact the ministry for refund.
It is pertinent to mention here that all sort of transport and air operations remain suspended in the province as the Sindh government announced a 15-day lockdown in the province to tackle spread of coronavirus as the provincial tally reached 407 cases as compared to 916 cases nation-wide.
