[sustran] Poor planning in bus transit system causing hardships to people

[Hassaan Ghazali]

Just when you thought the government should be preparing itself for
election year, they bring along another ill-planned benefaction.

http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2012/06/04/city/lahore/poor-planning-in-bus-transit-system-causing-hardships-to-people/

LAHORE - Poor planning to execute the so-called Bus Rapid Transit System
(BRTS) project has turned the international standard dual carriageway,
Ferozepur Road, into a dirt road, especially from Quainchi to Rohi drain,
causing grave hardships for commuters in the scorching heat.
The dual carriageway, which connects Lahore with Kasur, was initiated by
former Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi to cater to fast increasing
traffic needs and was completed in six years about two years back.
The road was rightly termed by people of the area from Model Town to Kahna
and beyond a gift by the then chief minister as it was completed not only
as per international standards and had service lanes on both sides but also
a greenbelt in the middle from Chungi Amar Sadhu to Kasur.
As there is no public park in the area from Chungi to Kasur, the greenbelt
had not only made the road one of most beautiful thoroughfares of the city,
but had well started serving people as a recreation spot as people were
seen sitting in it and walking along the road in the evening to enjoy this
park-like facility.
About four months back, the provincial government came up with a plan to
initiate the bus rapid transit system by removing the greenbelt and
encroaching on the road from both sides, turning the road into a dirt road
where traffic move sat snail’s pace to the torment of commuters.
While thousands of trees have been uprooted for the project, there is no
possibility of planting new ones as there is no space for the same and it
presents a look of a jungle of electric poles from Quainchi to Nishter Town.
As the main focus is on the BRTS, the quality of work at various sections
of the dual carriageway where it has been expanded, especially from Ghazi
road to Nishter Town, is extremely poor and there are hundreds of manholes
near General Hospital and Mian Bazaar which are right in the middle of the
road, uneven and improperly covered making it impossible for the traffic to
move smoothly.
A number of persons talking to APP expressed concern over the way the work
is being carried out on the project. Tariq, a businessman who daily goes to
Gulberg from Glaxo Town, said there was no need for spending a huge amount
on the project as an international level bus service could be run on the
already existing dual carriageway just by developing international standard
bus stops.
He said if the provincial government had decided to carryout the project at
all cost, it should have expanded the road first so that there was no
hurdle to the flow of the traffic. But, unfortunately exactly the reverse
had been done as work on BRTS was started first and then expansion of the
dual carriageway which played havoc with the traffic which usually remains
clogged for hours, he added.
Nasreen, a citizen, talking to APP at Main Bazaar said,” I had come early
morning to purchase clothes of my children to avoid the blazing sun but it
took me three hours to reach the bazaar from Nishter Town. Now I am
standing at the stop but traffic has not moved even an inch for the last
two hours.”
She expressed resentment over the way the dual carriageway had been damaged
and said, “It took only 20 to 30 minutes to reach Mian Bazaar from Nishter
Town, but now the whole day is wasted.”
She said if the provincial rulers were so eager to implement BRTS, they
should have first completed the expansion work of the dual carriageway and
then initiated the project so that traffic could continue to flow normally
and people had not to spend hours on the road in the roasting temperatures
of summer. A number of other people talking to APP at Quainchi, General
Hospital, Chungi, Bank Stop, Kahna, Nishter Town and Dulo Khurd expressed
similar views.
When contacted, Commissioner Lahore Division Jawad Rafiq Malik said plants
and trees removed from the greenbelt had been planted at various other
places along the canal road and Jallo Park. He said, “After the completion
of the project by August14, plantation along the Ferozepur road would be
carried out wherever possible.”
BRTS Project Director Col (R) Younis Bharola said as work was in progress
on both BRTS and expansion of the dual carriageway and heavy machinery was
being used, sometimes traffic problems arose.
He claimed that additional traffic police had been deployed along the road
and their number would be further increased to ensure better flow of
traffic.



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