Pakistan - Punjab - Metro disaster

The Orange Line Metro Train project is shaping ut to be another ecological, cultural and economic disaster, similar to its predecessor the Metro Bus. The Orange Line, which is the first track line of the proposed larger Lahore Metro network to be constructed, will stretch for more than 27 kilometres and is projected to cost more than $ 1.6 billion. It is being developed and funded with the help of the Chinese government and a consortium of Chinese firms. 

The ruling PML-N is eager to fast track this rapid transit project and have it completed before the 2018 elections so it can show off its capacity to deliver massive, ostentatious infrastructure projects. Certainly, the Sharif brothers have been gung-ho about the viability and necessity of the Metro Train and have been delivering animated speeches in favour of a project that seemingly fulfils the requirements of a ‘world class’ city. It is undeniable that a modern and efficient public transport system is needed in the major cities of Pakistan due to the exponential increase in the presence of vehicles on the roads in recent years, which results in dangerous traffic choke points and a lack of mobility for those without personal vehicles. Projects like the Metro Bus and now the Metro Train are therefore couched in relevant terms: of reducing traffic and giving poor people cheap and safe transport. But the N-league is responding to the concerns of traffic in such an irresponsible manner that it betrays its authoritarian flourishes and the poor people such projects purport to benefit are in fact the ones who suffer exclusively in their wake.

The Metro projects and the ongoing signal-free corridor project reveal how the executive takes decisions unilaterally without consulting the relevant environmental protection bodies or taking the consent of locals who will face the brunt of the construction. Thousands of trees have been uprooted so far in favour of building a concrete jungle and have not been replanted, to the detriment of public health and the environment. The Archaeology Department was also not consulted and now key heritage sites are in danger as the route of the train has devoured protected land of the GPO and will see construction work taking place within metres of the Shalimar Gardens. Other than the unquantifiable but critical phenomena like culture, heritage and greenery, the Metro Train will also directly ruin the lives of many poor people whose dwellings lie in its path. Flawed and inconsiderate land acquisition rears its ugly head once again as residents of the Kapurthala House, who have lived in the area for generations, are protesting because they are offered inadequate compensation and face homelessness due to a lack of any plan to relocate and rehouse them. These arbitrary, unjust and autocratic policies reveal the government’s worldview wherein the poor are to be ‘dispensed’ with at the whims of the rulers.