Representational image.
Built nearly 130 years ago in the Jhelum district by the British government in India, the Hanapur station in Chak Jamal and Hestedpur station in Dina were considered to be of high importance as they proved to be key conduits for transporting military equipment to the front in the Afghan war.
However, after Partition, both stations seemed to have lost their importance and splendour.
The stations are now little more than forgotten remnants of the British Raj with their hauntingly silent and illuminated halls and platforms bereft of travellers.
Though separated by around nine kilometres of track, you will be forgiven for missing them as the metal tracks are barely visible. Grass and shrubbery have grown over them in most places. In other spots, it completely disappears under dirt while the metal is missing in some patches.
Foundation plaques at both stations indicate that they were built in the early 1890s to complement the traffic over the famous Jhelum Bridge, which had been built over the then-mighty River Jhelum a couple of decades earlier in 1870.
Wild outgrowth has appeared in and around the main structure of the small stations. Bereft of any care and left to weather the elements, the white plaster on the buildings has all but eroded, revealing its underlying red-brick structure.
Though the buildings may look dull, they cannot but help plant the images in your mind about what these stations could have looked like at the height of the Raj.
While the wood in the windows and doors seemed to have rotted away and the iron in the grills is rusted, the tiles in the floors of both buildings remain intact. Given a bit of spit and polish with vigorous rubbing, it could start looking like new.
But for now, they provide shelter for the odd drug addict or wild animals and strays.
Arif Kareem, who works as an advocate at the Supreme Court (SC), told The Express Tribune that he had lodged several complaints on multiple forums including on Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Citizen Portal, the Pakistan Railways, and the federal planning secretary to declare these historic buildings as national heritage sites and to restore and maintain them like some of the other railway stations such as the one in Attock and the Golra area of Islamabad.
However, he lamented, that he had yet to receive a response to any of the complaints he had filed.
While the Hestedpur station is located far from dense population centres and the area around it is a popular grazing ground for local cows, the Hanapur station is located only a kilometre away from the Mangla Bypass on the Grand Trunk Road (GT Road). Moreover, its tracks merge with those coming from Rawalpindi railway station at Chak Jamal.
If the government pays heed to the utility of these stations and restores them, around 0.3 million people could benefit from it regularly. The Pakistan Railways can also renovate these buildings and use them for various purposes such as establishing offices as the structures of both buildings are still intact. “The restoration of both railway stations could help hundreds of people,” Kareem said, adding that it can also help generate revenues for the railway department apart from protecting a national heritage site.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 23rd, 2020.
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