Lahore’s Orange metro line, which is currently under construction, has been compared with the Delhi metro. Both have generated opposition from heritage-loving citizens, urban environmentalists, lawyer-activists and those likely to be displaced, or otherwise affected, by construction. But the construction in Lahore is proceeding full swing, riding roughshod over opposition by locals whom it will displace, a Lahore High Court order limiting the line’s proximity to heritage sites, and a UNESCO letter signalling that the construction is in violation of Pakistan’s obligations under the World Heritage Convention.
The Lahore metro is the first such mass transit system in Pakistan. The Orange line, its first stretch, is expected to be completed in October 2017. The line, which traverses the most densely populated, older parts of Lahore, will run for 27.1 km of which just 1.7 km will lie underground.
There is certainly a strong argument for a mass transport system in Lahore, a city that barely has any public transportation. Shehbaz Sharif, the chief minister of Punjab, has described the Orange line as “a gift from the Chinese to the people of Pakistan”. But how exactly it is a gift is another discussion, considering that the Punjab government and its people will ultimately pay for this Rs 165 billion project. Others point out that a far lower-cost solution to Lahore’s commuting woes would be for the government to invest in a proper fleet of buses and use the existing train lines.
Cutting through heritage
But let us leave aside the question of cost and transparency. The most vexed issue here is the path of the line. Construction-related digging, vibration, noise, and pollution is a real and pressing threat to some of the most significant heritage sites left in the city – Shalimar Gardens (1641), Chauburji Gate (1646), Zeb-un-nisa’s tomb, the Dai Anga Mosque (1671), the remains of a Jain Mandir (which, in 1992, after the Babri Masjid was demolished in India, was mostly knocked down too), the Mauj Darya shrine (1533), the courts, St Andrews Church and the walls of the General Post Office, amongst others.
Earlier this year, activists managed to obtain a court stay stating that no construction can occur within 200 feet of these heritage sites. But the state government claims this does not preclude demolition right up to the edge of this boundary, and in some places well within it. A few buildings are in the direct path of the proposed line.
The public is also increasingly aware of the cruel, thoughtless process of this mega-construction. Rather than using the clean tunnel boring machines in which a machine excavates tunnels while boring through earth and stone with limited damage at street-level (used in the construction of Delhi Metro lines), the Lahore line is being made using the cut-and-cover method of digging a semi-underground tunnel by cutting the ground at street-level. This method is the prime cause of the ongoing demolition in a dense 1.7 km stretch in the old city in which over 100,000 (as per one estimate) poor Lahoris and their entire worlds are being displaced.
Demolition goons
Maryam Hussain, associate professor at the renowned National College of Arts, Lahore, is one of the concerned persons of a small network of activists who began investigating the scale and impact of this project early on. The network – which includes the Lahore Conservation Society, architects, students, lawyers, and fellow-artists – has brought the attention of the United Nations to the numerous violations in the project. Hussain is a daily witness to the tectonic shifts in this old and venerable part of the city. Having handed out her phone number to those in the path of the line, she receives calls from panicked residents as the demolishers approach.
She recounted that in Purani Anarkali, thousands of dwelling places – a school for mentally disabled children, trees, a mosque, footpaths and shops were destroyed. Long-time residents in numerous localities were given 2-24 hour notices of eviction. In Postal Colony, residents were awoken at 2 am to be told that each family would be given Rs 10 lakh if they signed away their homes there and then. They refused, but await their fate. They are now being offered Rs 1 lakh to move. The residents of Samanabad responded with fury, blocking streets and burning tyres. Parachute colony, whose residents include old railway employees, are facing demolition teams. In one case, at Shalimar Chowk, patients were dragged out of a medical clinic, despite the doctor having a stay order against demolition. An established lawyer, whose law office is in the line of demolition, said that the demolition teams usually include the demolishers, police from the local thana, Lahore Development Agency officials, and masked persons.
Local protests
Besides approaching court for a stay on specific demolitions, residents of mohallas have organised numerous peaceful protests. The Punjab government began to make verbal promises of compensation only after the stay motions were filed this month, but the promises are accompanied by ultimatums. Millions of rupees in compensation have now been given out. However, given the extreme shortage of housing stock, it is not clear how people will re-settle their lives. Many residents also recount how some persons were given lakhs, even crores of rupees, while they have been offered unreasonably low amounts as compensation. In the turmoil, many residents are demolishing their own homes with hammers, just to be able to sell the rubble and metal, while others are holding out.
Systematic efforts of the activists have finally brought the all-important television networks to the demolition sites. The Opposition Pakistan Tehreeq-e- Insaaf (Imran Khan) and People’s Progressive Party have indicated a willingness to fight against the Orange line, but, they are not seen blocking demolitions. The major union confederations have not risen to the challenge. The Left parties – Awami Worker’ Party and Mazdoor Kisan Party – are absent.
The battle to retain the old city, the neighbourhoods, and to challenge the rapacious development model of mega projects, is at a critical stage. Yet, for many thousands it is over. Around 50 to 100 workers and residents have also died as a result of the construction, through electrocution, falling into pits, and other accidents.
For many, this is the second severe displacement in recent memory. The first was in 1947. Maryam Hussain writes, “No conquering army in Lahore’s 4,000 year old life has done what Shehbaz Sharif is doing now. The city chokes with dust and blood, its grave is dug no eulogy written will be enough for this.”