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Thursday March 28, 2024

Metro train route against law,say civil society, conservationists

LAHORE: The construction of a track for the Orange Line Metro train is facing intense opposition from almost all civil society and conservationist groups because of the perceived threat to heritage sites along the route of the mass transit project.The Institute of Architects Pakistan, Pakistan Council of Architects and Town

By Moayyed Jafri
November 08, 2015
LAHORE: The construction of a track for the Orange Line Metro train is facing intense opposition from almost all civil society and conservationist groups because of the perceived threat to heritage sites along the route of the mass transit project.
The Institute of Architects Pakistan, Pakistan Council of Architects and Town Planners, Union of International Architects, Pakistan Environmental Lawyers Association, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Worldwide Fund for Nature Pakistan, Pakistan Medical Association, Office of Conservation and Community Outreach, Pakistan Urban Resource Centre, Concerned Citizens of Pakistan, Lok Sujag, Subh-i-Nau, Shehri, Pakistan Sustainable Network, Chitarkar, Shirkatgah, Shajardost, Lahore Conservation Society and Civic Forum all have opposed the currently proposed plan by the Punjab Metro Bus Authority (PMA).
The premise of this unequivocal opposition is based on the pretext of Section 22 of the Antiquities Act 1975 and Punjab Special Premises Preservation Ordinance 1985, which state that no development plan or scheme or new construction on or within a distance of 200 feet of a protected immovable antiquity should be undertaken or executed.
However, parts of the elevated- section and the underground section of the Metro Train track not only violate the 200 feet rule by conducting construction activity but at instances compromises parts of these heritage sites. These heritage sites include the Presbyterian Church at Nabah Road, General Post Office (GPO) building, Supreme Court building next to the Lahore High Court and the Choburji, which has been a signature of Lahore for centuries.
A five-foot portion of the veranda of the GPO building is likely to be compromised for the Orange Line Train while a significant part of the Presbyterian Church yard is also probable to be eaten up by the project.
While such demolitions and elimination of heritage sites are a gross violation of the law itself, conservationist Yasmeen Lari, who led a conservation project for the GPO building in the 1980s, believes that it is not the only grave danger faced by these sites.
“The close distance between the monuments and proposed track is a major factor which has not been accounted for.” These buildings are hundreds of years old; their structures are vulnerable if not dilapidated. Drilling within close proximity of these structures and operating a train with high vibration coefficient would be a recipe for disaster,” she says.
Yasmeen proposes that a study should be undertaken and its findings should be made public before the start of work on the project. “The government needs to ensure transparency about the manner in which construction work will be carried out near the buildings.”
While controversies regarding people’s displacement without adequate forewarnings and little or no provision of compensation to the affected people especially at Jain Mandir, Kapurthala House, Punjab University Town-1 etc surround the project, the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) is having a hard time in gathering any form of popular or legal support for these actions.
About the Presbyterian Church area, the LDA says that due to the curvature (turning radius) constraints of the Metro train, the re-alignment of the track is difficult in this area. But still negotiations with CR-Norinco are in progress to mitigate the impact of construction on the said building.
Regarding the Supreme Court building, the LDA admits that a portion of the High Court parking/ Aiwan-e-Auqaf courtyard would be used for ventilation shafts and entry structure comprising elevator, escalator and stairs and land would be required for the same. However, it promises in rather a vague way that measures would be taken to ward off the vibration effects on the buildings due to the construction, if any and foundations would be protected during construction, though those protesting against the project reject these assurances.
The LDA says that the closest distance of the heritage sites listed above from the main pier of Orange Line rail are 95ft for Shalamar Gardens, 69ft for Gulabi Bagh’s Tomb, 59ft for Buddha’s Tomb, 80ft for Choburji monument and 110ft for Zaibun Nisa’s Tomb. All of these are less than 200 metres as mentioned by the protesting civil society and conservationist groups to be a violation of Section 22.
Pakistan Metro Bus Authority Manager Operations Uzair Shah, while commenting on the situation, said the appropriate procedures were adopted regarding environmental impact of the project before it was handed over to the LDA Project Management Unit.