Punjab’s chief minister Shehbaz Sharif says had the project been allowed to be built on time and not subject to delays, it would have lessened thousands of cars on the road
PTI and Imran Khan Niazi’s team delayed the project.
They did’nt want the people to benefit from an efficient and cheap mass transit system
The $1.6 billion project was launched in May 2014 by Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in collaboration with a Chinese company, the project was set to be the country’s first metro line, but it got embroiled in a legal battle
Punjab’s chief minister further said if the project had been built on time and not subject to delays, it would have lessened thousands of cars on the road and could have led to less severe smog in the provincial capital.
The project, which is included in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, was expected to run on electricity and transport up to 250,000 passengers a day. The capacity is set to be increased to 500,000 passengers by 2025.
LAHORE Feb 03 (TNS): The Punjab government has suffered a loss of billions of rupees due to delay in the completion of Rs45 billion Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) project as a number of cases are pending against the project in the superior courts.
On October 8, last year, Shehbaz had unveiled the $1.6 billion mega-transport scheme in Punjab’s capital.
The deadline for completion of the project was December 25, 2017, which could not be met due to pendency of cases in the superior courts. The Chinese government had also expressed concern over delay in the project, according to a senior Punjab government official.
On 28 January 2016, the LHC stayed all construction activities within the radius of 200 feet of 11 protected immovable antiquity and special sites. Later, the Punjab government hired a team of the country’s leading lawyers, including Makhdoom Ali Khan, Khawaja Haris and Shahid Hamid, to plead its case before the SC.
National Engineering Services Pakistan (Nespak), Lahore Development Authority (LDA), Punjab Transit Authority (PTA) and the Punjab government appealed against the Lahore High Court (LHC) verdict of August last year, which ordered for stopping the work on the project after setting aside a no-objection certificate (NOC) issued by the Archaeology Department.
The issue stemmed after the LDA initiated the process of acquisition of 1013.75 kanal land for the project in 2015.
“As many as 158 cases were filed by different individuals against the land acquisition proceedings as well as amount of compensation announced by the LDA. Of these 148 cases have been disposed of by the high court,” a source said.
The official claimed that the project had suffered continuous delay on account of suspension of work near different heritage sites along the route of the project. However, apart from this case related to preservation of historical site, a number of cases of land disputes were also pending.
Chief Minister Punjab Shehbaz Sharif blamed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf for the delay caused in the construction of the Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) project.
The chief minister said this while speaking to media in Lahore, shortly after the Supreme Court’s orders which cleared the way for completion of Orange Line Metro without any delay.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan dismissed the decision of the Lahore High Court (LHC) halting work on selected sites of the Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) project.
“The PTI had submitted an application to the Supreme Court. Then, as hidden enemies strike, they did the same in the Lahore High Court. The revenge they have taken is not from me. They have taken revenge from the poor people of the city,” said Shehbaz.
The chief minister added that the project was to be inaugurated on Dec 25 according to the original plan, but PTI and Imran Khan Niazi’s team delayed the project.
He elaborated that the Lahore High Court (LHC) had a stay order on the project for 14 months and the apex court announced its verdict eight months later.
Shehbaz added that the PTI did not want the people to benefit from an efficient and cheap mass transit system. “The project was to run from Dec 25, now, due to the delay we are absolutely out of line.”
Criticizing the opposition party further, Shehbaz said they have been unable to even lay a brick for the metro project in Peshawar after a passage of four and a half years.
Punjab’s chief minister further said if the project had been built on time and not subject to delays, it would have lessened thousands of cars on the road and could have led to less severe smog in the provincial capital.
“The tickets for the metro project would be reasonable and the price would be set keeping the common man in mind.”
The apex court accepted the appeal of the Punjab government and others against the LHC decision with conditions and ruled by a 4-1 judgment that it observed no illegalities in the multi-billion rupee project.
A five-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, had reserved its verdict in the case on April 17 this year.
Although the apex court allowed the Punjab government to go ahead with the project at the same speed, the bench set 31 conditions to ensure the project’s transparency.
The conditions included strict monitoring of the construction as well as a dedicated trial period before train operations begin; placement of high-tech devices and hiring of expert monitors to ensure vibrations from the construction don’t damage the heritage sites and various measures for the beautification and restoration of the sites.
The apex court has also ordered the formation of five-member experts’ committee and three-member technical committee to oversee the project and ensure the protection of the heritage site under question.
A Rs100 million fund will also be established by the government to maintain the heritage sites, according to the court order.
The $1.6 billion project was launched in May 2014 by Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in collaboration with a Chinese company, the project was set to be the country’s first metro line, but it got embroiled in a legal battle in LHC which ordered a stay on several sites as the development was trampling over heritage sites in Lahore.
A single train within the 27-kilometre rail line has the capacity to carry 1,000 people, out of which 200 can be seated while 800 can commute while standing.
The project, which is included in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, was expected to run on electricity and transport up to 250,000 passengers a day. The capacity is set to be increased to 500,000 passengers by 2025.
The original deadline for the project was December 25, 2017.
