Court stays metro train project near historical places

LDA stops work, presentation given to CM; spokesman says project will not damage monuments

LAHORE

A division bench of the Lahore High Court has granted stay order against any construction of Orange Line project within 200ft of historical places falling in its way. The court issued this order and put off hearing till February 04. The bench comprising Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh and Justice Shahid Karim issued this order on a petition of different affectees and civil society representatives.

Eleven different historical buildings were falling in the way of the Orange Line, including Chauburji, Saint Andrew Church, GPO building, Supreme Court Registry Branch, Shalimar Gardens, Budhu ka Awa, tomb of Baba Mauj Daria, Shah Cheragh Building, and others.

The court stopped the government while issuing a short order in this regard after holding the proceedings on the petitions.  

Appearing before the court, the counsel for the petitioners submitted that the government initiated this project in September last year but for money, the government signed contract with a Chinese bank in January this year which means the government so far is continuing the work without taking any loan and wasting the public money on this wasteful project.

At this, the court asked about it to Khawaja Haris, the counsel for the government, who could not satisfy the court. The court also asked him about any steps the government have taken to preserve the preserved buildings prior to this project. The court also asked him if the government took clearance from different departments before starting this project but he also could not satisfy the court on it.

The counsel for the petitioners submitted that the government had transferred director general of archeology to get permission from its favourite DG. He said so far 26 people died because of this project. He also submitted that the project was initiated without proper planning. He said before initiation of the project, electricity, water and Sui gas lines were not shifted to the proper places and no vehicular traffic was managed. He said because of non-availability of the alternative roads, traffic jams can be witnessed on every road throughout the day. He said even ambulances remain stuck for hours in the traffic jam.

He said that the Rs365 billion project of the metro train was not approved by the Punjab Assembly. They said the project put heritage of the Lahore city on stake as 26 historical and protected monuments, including Shalimar Gardens, General Post Office, Supreme Court-Lahore registry, Lahore High Court and Chauburji were going to lose their significance.

He added that the government was utilising funds allocated for other sectors like education and health for the project of metro train. He pointed out that Unesco also opposed the project for being a serious threat to environment and other reasons.

The petitioners asked the court to suspend all process, including initiation of Orange Line Project, demolition, building of any part, and as well as allocation and spending of funds pertaining to the project until decision of the petition.

LDA: Following the order of the Lahore high Court, Lahore Development Authority (LDA) has immediately stopped ongoing construction work at all the historically important buildings here Thursday.

Officials said the sites where construction activity was stopped included Shalamar Gardens, Gulabi Bagh’s Tomb, Buddu’s Tomb, Chauburji, Zaib-un-Nisa’s Tomb, GPO, SCP, Mauj Darya Darbar and church. They said contractors of the Orange Line Metro train project were directed to immediately halt all kind of construction activities until further orders.

All these historical monuments are protected either under the Antiquities Act 1975 or Punjab special premises (Preservation) Ordinance, 1985 and LDA got special permission from the archaeology department for the ongoing construction work. Under the Act, development schemes within a distance of 200ft of protected immovable antiquity cannot be taken up without the approval of DG Archaeology or committee.

LDA’s spokesman said Orange Line Metro Train project was not going to damage any of the monuments on Multan Road and GT Road as the project was being constructed in conformity with the Antiquities Act 1975 as well as Punjab Special Premises (Preservation) Ordinance, 1985.

Recently a meeting of the LDA officials held to discuss the issue and a presentation was prepared, which was submitted to the chief minister. As per the document, the LDA officials claimed that all apprehensions expressed regarding the proximity of Orange line project to several historical monuments, the elevated track causing visual barrier and effects of vibrations due to high speed Orange line train on heritage structures.

It said all the above-mentioned five sites were protected either under the Antiquities Act 1975 or Punjab special premises (Preservation) Ordinance, 1985. Under the Act, development schemes within a distance of 200ft of protected immovable antiquity cannot be taken up without the approval of DG Archaeology or committee. The document revealed that a formal request for NOC from DG Archaeology for construction of Orange line has already been moved.

LDA’s spokesman said that the elevated structure of the Orange line was very slim and sleek and would not create any visual barrier. The alignment of the metro train follows the available corridor along Multan road, Mcleod Road and GT Road. The piers are placed on the centre of the road to minimise disturbance to the adjoining properties and land acquisition. He said that it would not be possible to deviate from the centre line of the road as demolition to lot of urban area, massive land acquisition and relocation of the local population would be involved. He added that also for train projects, sharp turning radius and curves near these monuments to create distance could not be allowed.

The document revealed that the trains to be operated for Orange line project do not fall in the category of high speed trains since the maximum operating velocity of the train will be less than 80km/hr. Generally, the ground-borne vibrations due to passage of such trains are limited.

It said according to the German Standard DIN 4150 Part 3-1999 “structural vibration in buildings”, the maximum vibration velocity at the foundation level of the heritage structure shall be less than 3mm/sec. Based on the theoretical 2D FEA model of pier-ground system of light rail train viaduct system similar to Orange line project (by Xia. H at el. 2001), it is concluded that beyond a distance of 10-12m from the main pier of rail the ground-borne vibrations (GBV) are negligible (<0.03mm/sec).

The document further revealed that the closest distance of the heritage sites listed above from the main pier of Orange line rail are 95ft (29m) for Shalamar gardens, 69ft (20.9m) for Gulabi Bagh’s Tomb, 59ft (18.1) for Budda’s Tomb, 80ft (24.5m) for Chauburji monument and 110ft (33.5m) for Zaib-un-Nisa’s Tomb.

The document about Supreme Court Building claimed that no part of Supreme Court building shall be affected due to metro orange line construction. The maximum efforts shall be made to protect the boundary wall of the Supreme Court building as well. In order to save the façade of the Supreme Court Registry Building, the Orange line has been kept underground near the Building.

To ensure the structural integrity of the Supreme Court Building, continuous monitoring through requisite instrumentation of the Supreme Court building shall be carried out to devise appropriate protection measures wherever required. Appropriate shoring/bracing system shall be employed to ensure safety of the building. All the utilities shall be relocated first for the un-obstructed supply of services to the said building.

About the GPO Building, the document claimed that part of GPO triangular courtyard towards Mall Road shall be used for the entry structure comprising of elevator, escalator and stairs and land shall be acquired for the same (This entry structure also serves the purpose of ventilation for underground central station).

In order to save the facade of the GPO heritage building, see-through architectural arrangement will be proposed for the entry structure walls. To ensure the structural integrity of the GPO building, continuous monitoring through requisite instrumentation of the GPO building shall be carried out to devise appropriate protection measures wherever required. The GPO building shall be protected while the boundary walls of GPO shall be temporarily removed and restored to its original condition after the construction. GPO’s gate near the GPO chowk has to be shifted/relocated due to the entry structure of the central station. All the utilities shall be relocated first for the un-obstructed supply of services to the said building.

About the high Court building, it said part of high court parking/Aiwan-e-Auqaf courtyard shall be used for ventilation shafts and entry structure comprising of elevator, escalator and stairs and land shall be required for the same. Appropriate shoring/bracing system shall be employed to ensure safety of the building especially the area in the vicinity of central station. It said Nabha road side boundary wall will be affected during construction and shall be restored to its original condition after the construction.

About the church near Supreme Court building, it maintained that portion of foundation and the part of church building towards Nabha Road side shall be affected due to its interference with underground structure and due to construction/space requirements of construction equipment. The affected part of the church and boundary wall during construction shall be restored to its original condition after the construction.

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 are in progress to mitigate the impact of construction on the said building.