Summary SHEHBAZ: ORANGE LINE TRAIN ROUTE NOT TO AFFECT HISTORICAL SITES.
Dunya News Report (Humaira Sajid)
ISLAMABAD - Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Shahbaz Sharif in a meeting with the delegation led by Programme Specialist World Heritage Center UNESCO, Ms Junhi Han said that Orange Line Metro Train project will not affect the historical sites on its route in Lahore, reported Dunya News.
The theme of the meeting was based on discovering methods and measures for conservation of historical sites on the route of Lahore Orange Line Metro Train project. The CM said that OMT Project is a revolutionary project which will act as contemporary means of public transport to citizens. “This project is vital for improving living standards of the common man,” he said.
UNESCO Programme Specialist Jhuny Han told the chief minister that meetings with officials of the Punjab government had been constructive. She said the UNESCO and the Punjab government were on the similar pages regarding development in the province. The Lahore Development Authority director general also attended this meeting.
The recent meeting was in correspondence to early criticism and objection raised by the United Nations (UN) over demolition of historical buildings to make way for OMT Project of the Punjab government. The UN expressed its concern over the possible view distortion of two of the major monuments Chauburji and Shalimar Gardens and the abolishment of as much as 25 other buildings in Lahore by the project. “The preservation of these historical buildings is a necessity,” the UN observed.
UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights Karima Bennoune, in a press release said: “The project will not only destroy physical sites but the ways of life that have been developed there, that people cherish and through which they express their dignity and identity.”
Considering the threat of OLMT to the heritage, civil society organizations filed a writ petition on December 16, 2015 challenging the construction of the project so close to a number of historical sites. The court issued notices to Punjab government, Planning and Development Commission, Departments of Environment and Archeology and Nespak.
Mega-budgeted Metro train project, collaborated and funded by China, landed in controversy at a very embryonic stage. The government was the architect of the fumble. It hired National Engineering Services Pakistan (NESPAK) as a consultant disregarding the hard fact that NESPAK stood unqualified since it never executed such projects in its longer span of national and international work.
Recently, a Divisional Bench of the Lahore high Court (LHC) comprising Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh and Justice Shahid Jamil granted a stay order against the construction of Orange Line Metro Train Project, and clearly stated that no construction can be done within a 200-feet radius of any historical place, effectively stopping construction at eleven points.
However, civil society’s lawyer Azhar Sadeeq revealed that despite a Prohibitory Injunctive Order, directing the government to put a stop to the construction work, the government through the Lahore Development Authority is continuously violating the January 29 order of the Lahore High Court. In light of this, Azhar Saadeeq requested the Lahore high Court to form a Local Commission that will ascertain court orders are implemented in its true form and LDA would stop the heritage of the Lahore city to be at stake.
LDA Chief Engineer Israr Saeed told that they are, in fact, preserving and securing the monuments and not, as is being portrayed in the media, destroying or damaging them.
“We have given a bend to the right to avoid any damage to Chauburji. At this location, we have created a distance of around 60 to 70 feet between the track and the monument to maintain its view,” he said, adding that while some of the Chauburji quarters would have to be relocated, the historical monument will maintain both its integrity and view.
Similarly, due to the other bend, the TMA office, Waterworks office and various buildings would have to be moved to a different location but it would maintain clear view of the Shalimar Gardens. He said that only the boundary wall of the GPO would be taken down for the underground portion of the metro train, but that too would be re-constructed immediately after.
“There will be no damage to the GPO building at all,” he clarified.
