LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday admitted plea challenging Orange Line Project. Justice Shahid Kareem of LHC was hearing the case.
Petitioner’s counsel Advocate Azhar Siddique maintained that the government has not met the legal requirements before initiating the project. Land for the project was not acquired through Land Acquisition Act. Moreover, he said that environmental survey was not carried out regarding the project.
The petitioner demanded the court to order halt to the project as locals’ lives have been adversely affected. Justice Kareem admitted the plea and recommended formation of a larger bench to hear the case.
Federal and provincial governments were issued notices regarding the case.
The Orange Line Metro Train will run on at least 27.1 Kilometre (Km) long track. The project that will connect Raiwind, Lahore railways station, Mcleod Road, Grand Trunk Road and Multan Road is capable of carrying at least 30,000 passengers per hour.
Chief Minister (CM) Shahbaz Sharif had signed the agreement last year in a ceremony which was attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Mamnoon Hussain.
The project is likely to complete around October 2017 and will cost at least USD 1.6 billion.
Orange Line rapid transit system was implemented upon 15 months after Lahore’s first transit project called Metro. Both the projects were initiatives of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government.
INP
