LAHORE: Civil society, environmental activists and concerned citizens have raised objections to the `needless` Yellow Line masstransit project on the Canal Road that the government is bent upon completing by next June, ignoring its impact on the canal, a protected heritage site, and trees on its banks.

They gathered in a dialogue on environmental impact of the Yellow Line held at the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan on Wednesday. The speakers included Fauzia Qureshi, the architect and representative of Lahore Conservation Society, architect Kamil Ali Mumtaz, environmental lawyer Ahmed Rafay Alam and HRCP Director Farah Zia.

Fauzia Qureshi said the Yellow Line project was never on the cards of the master plan of Lahore for 2050 or the study done by the Japan International CooperationAgency (JICA) and came out of the blue.

`The govt is carrying out this project on the Lahore Canal which is a protected heritage site. The project is a blatant violation of the laws of the land and has deep environmental repercussions.

Pointing out the proposal of the plan, she said the whole concept of running the bus along the canal on the extreme right rather than the left-hand side was flabbergasting.

`I don`t know where the design came from.

Ms Qureshi pointed out that Canal Road was expanded to four-lanes recently with billions of rupees and there was no evidence of traffic issues on it. She asked why the same infrastructure could not be used for the Yellow Line busses without disturbing anything.

Earlier, she gave the presentation that Nespak had prepared for the Rs8.63bn project. The project will have 13 underpasses on its 26km route to enable the commuters to reach the bus that would be on the right side of the road along the canal, not on the extreme left where generally busses run.

She pointed out the issue that pedestrians would be on the left side of the canal road but the bus would run on the right side and the commuters would have to reach the bus stop by using an underpass and cross the canal, if needed, by using a bridge. The project would start in September this year andcomplete in June next year. She pointed out that the trees to be cut for the project had been given as 1,400, saying that there was a confusion in the authorities as they had earlier given the same number but reduced it to 800 and then again raised it to 1,400.

Farah Zia, director of the Human Right Commission of Pakistan, called for action from the concerned Lahorites to take up cudgels against the issues related to the Yellow Line. `This Yellow Line project has no transparency and nobody knows where the de cisions regarding it are being made as everything is being done behind closed doors,` she said.

Environmental lawyer Ahmad Rafay Alam stressed that `no doubt, this city needs public transport but the question is that the public transport should be in which form; bus, train or underpasses?` He said there was a case whose hearing has been going on in the Lahore High Court since 2018,issuing ordersforprotectingthe environment and Yellow Line subject popped up during the hearing. Pointing out the issue with reporting of the case in the media, he said, `the statements of the judge are mere observations, not orders. The judge has sought a feasibility report of the project but he has not got it yet.` About the process of the project, he said after Nespak, the project would go to the Planning andDevelopment Board where its PC-1 would be made before its approval, followed by environment impact assessment (EIA).

`There is a law of 2013 which says that the canal is a heritage park and the government could not raise any structures on it except under certain conditions.

Alam said only registered consultants could make EIA and Punjab did not have any registered consultants. He said the Yellow Line looked like a dream of somebody or their fantasy.

Kamil Ali Mumtaz said, `There a complete master plan of Lahore like any other metropolis of the world and the authorities are violating it constantly by sometimes bringing in Ruda, and sometimes Yellow Line. There is an urban transport master plan for Lahore too but the government ignored it also`.

He highlighted involvement of many stakeholders in such big projects but the citizens, real stakeholders, were left out from the list of partners, pointing out absence of local government that was missing not only in the city but the whole province. `It`s the local government that runs the city.

Mumtaz said the Yellow Line as well we the other projects like it impacted environment and economy while the latter was mostly behind popping up such projects. He raised concerns about the global megafinances and investors who were always on the look for big projects and the third-world countries like Pakistan always fell for them.

`Our common assets (rivers, canals, land) are seen as investment opportunities by those behind mega finances.

Mumtaz said the Yellow Line was seen as a big investment opportunity because free land was already available along the canal just like the Ravi River. `The big investors leave after getting profits and people are left with the project to pay the price just as it happened with Orange Line,` he added and referred to the worst air quality in the world and Ravi that`s also one of the most polluted rivers of the world.

`JICA had conducted comprehensive studies and said that Lahore had adequate traffic infrastructure and all it needed was better planning.

Town planner Raza Ali termed the canal basic to the city`s planning, saying that the design of the Yellow Line was really ugly just like other projects of Nespak that would always add ugliness to the cityscape. He took on the judiciary for allowing earlier projects Former principal of National College of Arts Naazish Attaullah, activist Abuzar Madhu, Ikramul Haq, Muzamil Kakar of Haqoog-i-Khalg Party and others were also present.