By: Summayai Ali
Snow has always been in Murree. Occasionally more often but no trace of the tragedy that took place this time. The heart has been shedding tears upon hearing the details that have come up so far. I myself am a resident of Murree and am amazed that the area where most of the fatalities took place (in Kaduna) is a place where there should be no delay in cleaning snow. In the past, it has been snowing many times but it is rarely the case that people are stuck in their cars on the road due to snow for not 24 hours but in the meantime someone comes to remove snow or to help them. Not sure During snowing, the main responsibility of the administration is to keep the roads, especially the highways, constantly cleaned with continuous machines so that traffic can be restored and tourists do not face the hassle we saw this time and As a result, about 22 people were killed. During the snowfall, if the snow is cleared for hours, then the mountains will be frozen on the roads, the vehicles will be frozen in the snow and there is a crisis. From above, even when it is known that the snow is not stopping and the rush of vehicles is increasing, the Christians were prevented from going to Murree when the tragedy took place, leaving 22 dead. Yesterday, I was called by a prominent government official from Punjab and informed that there is a comprehensive policy (SOPs) for snowy season in Murree, but that no one would be able to attend any high level meeting about the Punjab government’s implementation. Did not According to this policy not one but two control rooms were already in place, there should have been snow camp in Kalidana along with several areas of Murree, there was a directive to keep the ice cleaning machinery in such camps so that any major highway Not closed due to snow. The new page-based policy imposes different responsibilities on various government departments to ensure timely snow removal from roads and serious traffic problems. Having traffic jams for hours is not a problem, but areas like Kaduna, Murree, Jhika Gul, Sunny Bank, etc., which all fall within a few kilometers, clearing the roads around these areas is a big no-no. There was no challenge, but if the roads had to be cleared during the snowfall to prevent them from cleaning when the snow stopped, then it was going to create a crisis and this time it happened. During the previous regimes, be it Shahbaz Sharif’s government or Pervaiz Elahi, such conditions have never occurred. During those periods, the chief ministers regularly held meetings about Murree before the snowfall, reviewed the policy, issued funds to the departments of Murree, activated the administration but this time Assistant Commissioner of Murree, a D.S. With P alone, he was seen trying to clear the roads while the provincial government was not interested in what it should be. However, such situations will arise when the officers of the administration are changed daily. Only ten of the twelve assistant commissioners have been transferred to Murree during the Farmer’s Government, and this is the case with the officers of every department. How can governance improve in such a case and this is a point that Imran Khan should think about and accept responsibility for. When the whole of Pakistan was at the heart of the tragedy of Murree, what did the Prime Minister say, what did the Minister say, what was the Chief Minister’s engagement? This debate aside, there should be a serious inquiry into the whole matter so that no such tragedy can happen in the future. Who is responsible for the deaths? It is being politicized and will continue to be, but the government has proved incompetent of Punjab and instead of putting a veil on it, steps need to be taken to correct it.