KARACHI: The damaged bogies of the Fareed Express that were covering portions of the railway track in Landhi where the tragic accident took place a day ago were pushed aside on Friday to clear the way for other trains. But in doing so, the people responsible for this blocl
This is Firdous Chali, a middle-class neighbourhood in Landhi. Mohammad Azeem, a ricl(shaw driver living there, said that for the second consecutive day he had not been able to take his rickshaw out through his small gate. `What can I do? The train junk has been pushed against my gate. My brother can`t even squeeze his motorcycle through the narrow gap, whatto say of my rickshaw,` he said.

Mohammad Ahmed, another resident of the neighbourhood, said that earlier passenger buses would pass through the narrow path by the tracks and he had no difficulty catching his bus from there. `The mess covering the path has also blocked the bus route,` he said.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Rafique said that some women in the neighbourhood were expecting while there were several old people there who were unwell. `What if an expectant mother needs to be rushed to hospital for delivery or an old person needs to be taken to hospital. No ambulance can reach here, not with our path blocked by this mess, `he said.

`The railway people tell us that they will remove everything by tomorrow but they said the same thing yesterday as well,` he said, adding that the bogies havejust been pushed to one side instead of being lifted and placed away.

`There could still be crushed people underneath.

Asked what happened back in 2009, when two other trains had also collided at the same place, the people said that back then the junk had been removed and dumped inside the ground across the tracks. `This time they just pushed everything our way as a quick fix without even considering what we would do when constricted like this,` said Mohammad Rafique.

Meanwhile, there were traffic constables on guard duty at the accident sight who off and on demanded cold water or tea from the neighbourhood homes. `They may be crushed bogies but they are metal, which is worth a lot even as scrap,` said one constable posted there.