The Punjab government has announced Metro Bus Service which would connect the twin cities and one hundred and fifty thousand passengers would use from this service on daily basis. The 23 km track is estimated at 35 billion rupees and would complete in one year time. My concern for this project is based on two points.
First point is that how could a government spend 35 billion on a project that is meant for people travelling on a single route i.e., from Pindi Saddar to Secretariat in Islamabad? How would the passengers travelling on other routes feel where they are treated like animals?
Second point is a technical one: if the government wants to go ahead on this project what would be the traffic Plan to operate the city traffic? According to the authorities, Murree Road would be totally closed and the traffic would be diverted towards the Airport Road and Kashmir Highway. This would result in total chaos and mismanagement as the Kashmir Highway is incomplete and a lot of work is left to be done. So my suggestion to the authorities and Punjab government would be to complete the construction work on Kashmir Highway before launching the Metro Bus Service to avoid inconvenience to the people of twin cities in the hot season ahead.
SAJJAD HAIDER
Islamabad