Rs 6b proposed for Rapid Mass Transit Rail project
THE Punjab Transport department has proposed over Rs 6 billion in the upcoming budget to breathe life into the long overdue Lahore Rapid Mass Transit Rail Project (LRMT).
The project had lost its course after being revived in March 2009 when the Asian Development Bank and the steering committee for the LRMT agreed to employ a transactional adviser to start the project. The transactional advisor was to be a marketing/consultancy firm, which would market the project at the international level to attract investors on the Build Own Transfer (BOT) basis. However, transactional advisor was never appointed.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), from the very start, had pledged its support through $1 billion for the project of an estimated cost of around $2.5 billion. Talking to The News, Punjab Department of Transport Secretary Muhammad Yousuf said the Punjab government would need to invest around $400 million in the project to get it going.
The LRMT is estimated to serve around 350,000 people daily, covering 27 square kilometres. The government has not been able to make progress in this regard even after paying about Rs1 billion on its feasibility studies regarding the project, termed the only solution to traffic problems of the provincial metropolis..
According to the feasibility studies, two tracks are to be constructed, first North-South route, called the Green Line, and second East-West route called the Orange Line. The Green Line would cover Shahdara to Hamza Town via Ravi Road, Lower Mall, The Mall, Fatima Jinnah Road, Qartaba Chowk and Ferozepur Road. The Orange Line would cover Pakistan Mint to Sabzazar via Shahnur, Awan Town, Hanjarwal, Thokar Niaz Beg, Canal View, Wahdat Road, Ali Town, Salahuddin Road, Bund Road, Islam Park, Dera Gujjran Depot, Mahmood Booti, Salamatpura, Samnabad, Gulshan-e-Ravi, Chauburji, Lake Road, Lakshmi Chowk, Railway Station, Sultanpura, UET, Baghbanpura and Shalimar Gardens.
The Transport secretary has claimed that the project has reached its final phase and the deadline set for the completion of the LRMT Green Line is three years.
The detailed design of the project is already underway and will be completed by the end of the year. The land acquisition for the Underground Railroad will start by January 2011.
The relocation of utilities has always been a contention among many circles ever since the project was conceptualised. The mesh of high power transmission lines, gas pipelines and telecom cable network buried not so systematically in the proposed route poses a great challenge. Work in this regard has been planned to commence from the first quarter of 2011.
Considering the power crisis in the country, the LRMT will have its own power production unit. The addition of the power production unit has pushed the total cost of the project even further.
The project has been surrounded by controversies right from the feasibility studies. Social circles have expressed their reservation about disturbance caused by blockades by the project in a city already clogged with traffic. The noise caused by a train running through the metropolis has also come under discussion as citizens are worried about the noise level around the elevated portions of the track if sound barriers are not constructed. Already a lot of noise pollution is generated around Pakistan Railwayís elevated track which runs from Lahore Station to Badami Bagh.
Considering the challenges of attracting an investor, an experienced and capable operator, transparency to curtail embezzlements of funds and to address the environmental concerns of citizens, the project completion is an uphill task. The LRMT has seen periodic revivals and delays, however, it still remains to be seen if this one too is just another such episode.
