Canal road widening project wastage of Rs 3.5bn: activists

[Naveed Yaseen]

* Activists claim project aimed at facilitating PML-N leaders

Staff Report

LAHORE: Members of the civil society and rights activists have accused the leadership of the provincial ruling party of wasting Rs 3.5 billion to “save time on their drive back home to Raiwind”, depriving Lahoris of their heritage and environmental assets.

The allegation follows Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s approval of the ‘Lahore Canal Bank Road Widening Project’.

At a meeting held in response to a press statement issued by the Punjab chief minister, the activists said if trees were felled along the canal, it would harm citizens’ health and destroy the beauty of the city.

The activists branded the new project a “disaster” for the citizens of Lahore, and said while a motorway-style road along the canal would shorten the distance between Lahore and Raiwind by only about six minutes, it would be a great inconvenience for the people of the city.

They claimed that the provincial government would deprive the public of 600 acres of public parks from Thokar Niaz Beg to the other end of the canal. They said the idea would be an “environmental disaster” because of the high levels of pollution in the city.

The activists claimed that the project was only aimed at allowing some to make money and facilitating leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. They said the previous government had launched a similar project at the cost of Rs 700 million, but protests by the citizens promoted that regime to build a ring road instead.

Architects, urban designers, environmentalists and others – including Kamil Khan Mumtaz, Nayar Ali Dada, Rizwan Mahmood, Imrana Tiwana, Saima Khawaja, Nabeela Jehan, Rabia Nadir, Tamkinat Kareem and Rafay Alam – attended the meeting. Most of these civil society activists were previously working in a similar group called Lahore Bachao Tehreek, which organised a strong protest campaign against the previous government for an attempt to launch a similar project.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...009_pg7_18