Orange Metro Train and Historical Buildings
- 8 years ago
The open letter addressed to the Chief Minister Punjab by the civil society about the Orange Line train in Lahore and published by one of the leading national dailies has been read with a good deal of interest in the government circles and the consequent consternation has led me, in my capacity as Commissioner Lahore, to respond to it. This is in no way a riposte but a well-meaning effort at developing better understanding and removing the ambivalence that exists in several quarters by someone who is privy to most of the developments.
We, in the Punjab Government and the Lahore Administration, are advocates and proponents of socially and culturally sensitive development. As hands-on practitioners, we encounter issues that require balancing acts of diverse nature. Among these, the most challenging ones are with respect to striking a balance between the infrastructure development imperatives and socio-environmental (cum cultural) considerations. The developing country’s compulsions occasionally outweigh the more noble considerations but do leave a scar or two on our minds. Whenever I have shared this feeling or qualm with my friends in bureaucracies of the other countries, I got this feedback that the developmental impetus always comes with a cost that gives the practitioners a few jitters or an eerie feeling of having compromised (for want of a more neutral word) nobler and more desirable concerns.
This should, however, never imply that the developing countries’ governments, like ours, conduct the developmental mandate with careless abandon and that their developmental approach is bereft of social, cultural and environmental sensitivities. It is just that the developmental deficit is huge and the ‘catch up’ is always an uphill struggle, and one which does not allow a lot of time.I recall having mentioned this to the Chief Minister Punjab some two years ago and he shared my concerns on this account. The Chief Minister’s passion for horticulture and floriculture is well known and has contributed to matchless green spaces and gorgeously abloom and laden parks. He supervised all these endeavours day in, day out for more than a decade now over different periods of time. We are right now in the process of giving a major impetus to horticulture development in Lahore particularly, with splendid elements of Chinese vertical horticulture and other innovative floriculture being implemented methodically.
Of late, the effort aimed at bringing art to public spaces, under the rubric of Beautification of Lahore Framework, has been personally championed by him and I earnestly believe it has the makings of something truly resplendent and culturally refreshing. A few of the leading lights of our civil society were instrumental in taking this agenda forward meaningfully. The magnificent ‘Bird House’, recently inaugurated at the Istanbul Chowk, is a testament to this positive collaboration. At least six more superbly-designed ‘art in public spaces’ projects are on the anvil. All of them would depict our rich culture and history in the most aesthetically pleasing manner. Another initiative which would be a robust testament to our unequivocal deference and unwavering commitment to Lahore’s history and heritage is the establishment of the Greater Iqbal Park. This, we believe, would be the jewel in Lahore’s crown and has the makings of a world class tourist hub, given its amazing vicinity.
Let me assure the readers that we are committed to making Lahore a truly world class city, one wherein you would find a superb mélange of the traditional and the modern. None of our efforts would be devoid of our singular commitment to this particular ideal. The Orange Line would be the common man’s ride, with cautious estimations indicating a daily ridership of a stupendous 245,000 commuters. It navigates and traverses through places and localities where people languishing in the poorest income quintiles live. Its pro-poor orientation coupled with the indisputable correlation between subsidised urban transport and poverty reduction make for a compelling case.
More importantly, let me assert in clear terms that the Orange Line will not damage at all any historical building or monument and none of the interventions going into its construction and engineering will impact adversely our historical and heritage sites. The much quoted impact of vibrations impacting existing old buildings is also baseless since the vibration level is as low as one-tenth of the permissible threshold. And as for the Shalamar Gardens, our team of legal experts is in the process of finalising the most plausible and legally sound reply to the UNESCO’s letter with respect to the World Heritage Convention.
The government instead has found avenues to restore heritage sites like the presently run-down Chauburji, Mouj Darya Darbar, St Andrews Church, Buddu’s Tomb, Dai Anga’s Tomb, Gulabi
http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2015/12/17/comment/the-orange-line/
We, in the Punjab Government and the Lahore Administration, are advocates and proponents of socially and culturally sensitive development. As hands-on practitioners, we encounter issues that require balancing acts of diverse nature. Among these, the most challenging ones are with respect to striking a balance between the infrastructure development imperatives and socio-environmental (cum cultural) considerations. The developing country’s compulsions occasionally outweigh the more noble considerations but do leave a scar or two on our minds. Whenever I have shared this feeling or qualm with my friends in bureaucracies of the other countries, I got this feedback that the developmental impetus always comes with a cost that gives the practitioners a few jitters or an eerie feeling of having compromised (for want of a more neutral word) nobler and more desirable concerns.
This should, however, never imply that the developing countries’ governments, like ours, conduct the developmental mandate with careless abandon and that their developmental approach is bereft of social, cultural and environmental sensitivities. It is just that the developmental deficit is huge and the ‘catch up’ is always an uphill struggle, and one which does not allow a lot of time.I recall having mentioned this to the Chief Minister Punjab some two years ago and he shared my concerns on this account. The Chief Minister’s passion for horticulture and floriculture is well known and has contributed to matchless green spaces and gorgeously abloom and laden parks. He supervised all these endeavours day in, day out for more than a decade now over different periods of time. We are right now in the process of giving a major impetus to horticulture development in Lahore particularly, with splendid elements of Chinese vertical horticulture and other innovative floriculture being implemented methodically.
Of late, the effort aimed at bringing art to public spaces, under the rubric of Beautification of Lahore Framework, has been personally championed by him and I earnestly believe it has the makings of something truly resplendent and culturally refreshing. A few of the leading lights of our civil society were instrumental in taking this agenda forward meaningfully. The magnificent ‘Bird House’, recently inaugurated at the Istanbul Chowk, is a testament to this positive collaboration. At least six more superbly-designed ‘art in public spaces’ projects are on the anvil. All of them would depict our rich culture and history in the most aesthetically pleasing manner. Another initiative which would be a robust testament to our unequivocal deference and unwavering commitment to Lahore’s history and heritage is the establishment of the Greater Iqbal Park. This, we believe, would be the jewel in Lahore’s crown and has the makings of a world class tourist hub, given its amazing vicinity.
Let me assure the readers that we are committed to making Lahore a truly world class city, one wherein you would find a superb mélange of the traditional and the modern. None of our efforts would be devoid of our singular commitment to this particular ideal. The Orange Line would be the common man’s ride, with cautious estimations indicating a daily ridership of a stupendous 245,000 commuters. It navigates and traverses through places and localities where people languishing in the poorest income quintiles live. Its pro-poor orientation coupled with the indisputable correlation between subsidised urban transport and poverty reduction make for a compelling case.
More importantly, let me assert in clear terms that the Orange Line will not damage at all any historical building or monument and none of the interventions going into its construction and engineering will impact adversely our historical and heritage sites. The much quoted impact of vibrations impacting existing old buildings is also baseless since the vibration level is as low as one-tenth of the permissible threshold. And as for the Shalamar Gardens, our team of legal experts is in the process of finalising the most plausible and legally sound reply to the UNESCO’s letter with respect to the World Heritage Convention.
The government instead has found avenues to restore heritage sites like the presently run-down Chauburji, Mouj Darya Darbar, St Andrews Church, Buddu’s Tomb, Dai Anga’s Tomb, Gulabi
http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2015/12/17/comment/the-orange-line/