Poor planning in bus transit system causing hardships to people

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.