Orange Line train route: Punjab government devises plan to deal with court verdict

Chairman Steering Committee Orange Line Metro Train Khawaja Ahmad Hassan has said that the Punjab government has devised an alternate plan in case the Supreme Court disallows passing of the train next to the historic sites. When asked about the possibility of early announcement of reserved verdict by the Supreme Court, he said the law requires that a reserved verdict should be announced within 90 days but the verdict on the Orange Line has been delayed by 120 days.
Talking to Business Recorder, he said the PML-N would ensure that the Lahorites should travel through the train much before next general elections. "We have alternate plan as well in case the Supreme Court disallows the existing route of the train," he added.
He said the project will be completed by December 2017 as over seventy percent construction work of the project has so far been completed. He said contract of 12 stations of package-1 while 15 stations of package-II have been assigned to a Chinese company. The Metro Train is expected to transport up to 250,000 passengers a day.
The project was launched in collaboration with a Chinese company in May 2014. It will be the country's first metro line. The pace of construction work remained fast throughout 2015 under the supervision of Shahbaz Sharif. Costing a whopping $1.6 billion, the 27-kilometers rail was likely to become operational by mid-2017 but it fell prey to legal troubles.
A petition challenging its route was moved in the Lahore High Court after the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) expressed serious concern over the rail tracks damaging 11 historical monuments in Lahore, including Shalimar Gardens, Gulabi Bagh Gateway, Chauburji, Zebunnisa's Tomb, Lakshmi Building and the General Post Office.
These heritage sites are protected under the Punjab Special Premises (Preservation) Ordinance, 1985 and Antiquity Act, 1975. Reprimanding the government for its poor planning, the court stayed the construction within 200 feet of the sites. But the Punjab government moved the Supreme Court against the decision of Lahore High Court and in April the apex court too concluded the case and reserved its ruling. A final verdict is still awaited.