Govt urged to halt work on Metro train project

Demonstrators block The Mall for one hour

LAHORE: Scores of citizens gathered on Friday at the General Post Office (GPO) Chowk and called on the government to halt work on the Orange Line Metro Train project.

The demonstrators blocked The Mall for an hour and raised slogans against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.  “Thousands of people are being displaced,” Maryam Hussain of the Lahore Conservation Society (LCS) said. She said there was no need for an elevated track in the city centre.

Raheemul Haq of the LCS alleged that the government had chosen the elevated track model over others as its shorter throwback would ensure its completion before the 2018 general elections. He said those affected by the project were not being adequately compensated.

“LDA officials just came and painted black marks on houses (set to be demolished) without offering any explanation,” Old Anarkali resident Subhana Akram said. She said 85 houses in the area would be affected by the project. Most people dwelling in the area claim to have been doing so since Partition.

“LDA officials kept trying to prevail on us by saying that the building we lived in was derelict and bound to collapse,” Maharaja House resident Nasreen Islam said. Islam alleged that they wanted to deprive the people of the real value of their properties by employing such tactics. “Real estate here is worth its weight in gold,” she said.

Parachute Colony resident Ijaz Anwar said there was no way the colony’s residents would relocate. “We own the property,” he said. Anwar said there were around 400 houses in the colony.

Former National College of Arts principal (NCA) Fauzia Qureshi said the LCS wanted the government to employ tunnel technology to execute the project. “The project is set to wreak havoc on the soul of the city. The buildings in the vicinity of McLeod Road are fine examples of the art deco style. This, the elevated track, will ruin, Qureshi said. Already, the project has compromised views of Badshahi Masjid, Data Darbar among scores of other historical sites, she said.

Leader of the Opposition in the Provincial Assembly (PA) Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed said the project would place the livelihood of thousands of people at stake. “The money (for the project) should be spent on the health sector...people in Lahore don’t have access to clean drinking water,” he said. Rasheed said the PTI stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the people when it came to opposing the issue.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 16^th, 2016.