Here four children, two girls and two boys, in one family are studying to be engineers. This is their dream. Their father works in a college canteen and is nearly blind. Here a widow and an amputee cannot walk but supports 6 children. She is terrified of what will happen if there is no roof over her head.
If the Lahore High Court rules in favour of the government or if the ruling is vague, rest assured that the LDA will likely start demolition before Parachute Colony residents can make it home from the court-empty spaces tell no tales.
This will be more blood on our hands. Yes ours. Mine and yours
- 10/21/2016
Lahore is the historic cultural centre of the Punjab region and is the largest Punjabi city in the world.[14] The city has a long history, and was once under the rule of the Hindu Shahis, Ghaznavids, Ghurids, and the Delhi Sultanate. Lahore reached the height of its splendour under the Mughal Empire, serving as its capital city for a number of years. The city was captured by the forces of Persian Afsharid Emperor Nader Shah during his invasion of the Mughal Empire. The city was then contested between different powers before it became capital of the Sikh Empire, and then the capital of the Punjab under British rule.[15] Lahore was central to the independence movements of both India and Pakistan, with the city being the site of both the declaration of Indian Independence, and the resolution calling for the establishment of Pakistan. Following the independence of Pakistan in 1947, Lahore became the capital of Pakistan's Punjab province.
The place we call home, Lahore
The people who govern us, Punjab Government
Images taken from google
Some useful links
The Chief Minister said that Lahore Orange Line Metro Train is a unique and unprecedented project in the history of the country. He said that metro train is a public welfare project, which will result in provision of international standard travelling facilities to millions of citizens. He said that undue criticism on public welfare projects tantamount to opposition to provision of facilities to the masses. He said that those unduly opposing public welfare projects are enemies of progress and prosperity of the people. He said that elites have no interest in the welfare and betterment of the masses and the elements creating hurdles in public welfare projects cannot tolerate removal of deprivation of the poor people.
- 4/18/2016 Press release
The people who raise their voice for others
Maryam Hussain is an artist, writer and Teacher at The National College of Arts, Lahore. She has been actively documenting the displacement and destruction being caused by the ill-designed Orange Metro Line. She provides a counter narrative to the reported progress of the project as told to us by Punjab Government,
Her social media status provided us with many leads to the on ground situation and provided us with a timeline of the evictions in the most vulnerable neighborhoods of Lahore.
Some useful links
The Orange Metro train Lahore
The Orange metro line is an automated rapid transit system under construction in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. When operational in October 2019, the Orange line will become Pakistan's first metro rail line.The Orange line is the first of the three proposed rail lines proposed for the Lahore Metro. The line will span 27.1 km (16.8 mi) with 25.4 km (15.8 mi) elevated and 1.72 km (1.1 mi) underground.The line will be served by 26 stations and is expected to handle 250,000 passenger daily.
long the route for stations, track, and related infrastructures land is being acquired from schools, hospitals/clinics, site of religious worship as well as shops, homes and public amenity plots as well seizing viable space from thousands of street hawkers and vendors.
The chart shows the relation between the various elements of our government structure starting with the chief minister of Punjab who has the highest authority on the issues relating to the province of Punjab. And since Lahore is the capital of Punjab his influence in the city's development is crucial to our narrative of the orange line train project.
Lahore Development Authority is another key agency in this narrative as they are responsible for all the new development in Lahore area and they have control over land use and zoning of the city.
Photo courtesy: Maryam Hussain
Photo courtesy: Maryam Hussain
Photo Courtesy: Maryam Hussain