Lahore bachao: Residents condemn haphazard development

The Express Tribune

Residents of Mughalpura voiced their frustration at the haphazard development work in their area here on Sunday, noting that the government had spent millions of rupees on the green belt along the Canal and then destroyed it for road expansion before the park was even inaugurated. They were speaking at the ‘Joint Citizens’ Meeting’ organised by the Lahore Bachao Tehreek, a group campaigning to preserve the city’s environment, to protest the expansion of Canal Bank Road at Mughalpura. Abid Raza, a resident of Muhammadpura, said that the workers had installed fountains, benches and swings and created a beautiful landscape at the green belt. “But before its opening, the government destroyed everything,” he said. He questioned why, if the government had planned to expand Canal Bank Road at that point, it had spent millions on beautifying the green belt. He said that similarly, the city government had set up lights for a food street that was to be built at Lal Pul Nabipura and then dropped the plan. He demanded that the government build a park and jinnazgah – a place where funeral prayers are held – in the area. Malik Shafiq, another local resident, said that four months ago, the city government had uprooted around 450 trees, some of them 50 years old, under cover of darkness in a half-kilometre area alongside the Canal. He said that even trees which did not encroach upon the area to be used for road expansion were cut down. He said that the green areas along the Canal had been the only place where local children could play. It had also served as the only jinnazgah for residents of Muhammadpura and Nabipura. He said that the Lal Pul area also had a sewerage problem which had been exacerbated by the road expansion project. Irum Aftab, an environmentalist, said that the government should be spending its budget on health and education rather than building roads. Even if it insisted on building roads, the government should have at least conducted a needs-assessment for the project. She said that principles of urban development had changed the world over with governments focussing more on green energy and education. She said that expanding roads was also not a solution to the city’s traffic issues. Imrana Tiwana of the Lahore Bachao Tehreek said that it was sad and frustrating to see construction work at three places at Mughalpura despite a court stay order against it. She said the tehreek would file a contempt petition against the government. She said that trees critical to the city’s environment were being ruthlessly chopped down by the city government in the name of development. She accused the Punjab government of spending much of its development budget, meant for all 36 districts of the province, on two roads in Lahore. A resolution was passed at the meeting demanding that the government declare the green belt along the Canal a public trust and an urban heritage park, in line with the orders of the Supreme Court in the Canal Bank Road expansion case. The resolution demanded that the government reverse the road construction and restore the green belts. It also demanded that the proposed Lahore Canal Heritage Act 2012 be reworked as it was against the spirit of the legislation proposed by the Supreme Court.