Govt, PML-N to hold ceremonies for OLMT
The first of 27 trains designed for the Orange Line Metro in Lahore rolled off the production line in central China’s Hunan province on Monday. PHOTO: China Xinhua News
The Lahore Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) will finally be inaugurated on Sunday, but its launch is also not without controversies, as both the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) that was previously in power in Punjab have announced plans to hold separate inaugural ceremonies to claim the credit for the project.
According to the government, Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar will inaugurate the 27.12-kilometre-long project on October 25 (today).
It is the first electric public transport project, which will provide employment to more than 4,000 people and around 250,000 commuters will travel on it daily.
The Punjab government on Tuesday fixed the fare for the Orange Line train at Rs40. On the other hand, the PML-N, to claim the credit of the project, has announced a plan to hold a separate inaugural ceremony. The ceremony would be held at Anarkali Station of Orange line near Jain Mandir.
The ceremony will be attended by PML-N leaders Sardar Ayaaz Sadiq, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Malik Pervez and Khawaja Imran Nazir.
The Orange Line project was the flagship project of the Shehbaz Sharif government. Interestingly, the project drew a lot of flak from all opposition parties, mainly the PTI that used to criticise it for being too expensive.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 25th, 2020.