The BRTS project has come under criticism by professional and habitual critics firstly for its cost and now for its utility. BRTS is a daredevil initiative by Mian Shahbaz Sharif which will bring a change in our style of life. I remember similar criticism was levelled against the motorway when it was being made. First against the very concept of motorway, then the route of motorway and then the accidents that took place initially. But look at the motorway now. It has changed the very structure of roads in the country. Look at the motorway police it has changed the very system of highway patrolling. It has taken time but the change was inevitable.
BRTS is a pain in our necks. But it has changed the primitive look of Lahore. It will bring change in our intra-city commuting pattern. Why would anyone use personal cars, barring a few with ill-gotten money and self – build egos, when a proper system of transport is available? In London we all use underground metro system and we don’t feel shy. We all stand in a queue the moment we land in Europe but no one feels shy or embarrassed. I do not understand that when we make such infrastructural changes in our own country why do these critics sharpen their knives to start snubbing the projects?
Petroleum prices are rising and are perhaps the only source of generating revenue for our governments lord’s style of lives but when it comes to average people BRTS would perhaps be the only source of inexpensive commuting. All I want to say is that don’t we have the right to a decent life? Should we be static in our way of living for the rest of our lives? As for the cost escalation of BRTS project the prices of basic things used in this project are escalating geometrically so how do we expect the cost remaining the same?
AMJAD H MIRZA
Lahore
