For The Love of Pakistan

LAHORE: The Punjab government has decided to launch work on all remaining sections of the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) and hope to finish the project in six months, The Express Tribune has learnt.

The project to build a double bus-only lane down the centre of Ferozepur Road from Youhanabad to Shahdara at a cost of Rs22 billion has been divided into six packages. Work on the 10.1-kilometre package 1, from Youhanabad to Kalma Chowk, is to be completed in one month, said Traffic Engineering and Planning Agency (TEPA) officials.

A company was selected to work on the 4.9-km package two, from Kalma Chowk to Qurtaba Chowk, about a week ago and it has set up a site office. The plants on the green belt on Ferozepur Road from Kalma Chowk to the Muslim Town flyover have been removed.

Tenders for packages three and four, which will consist of a 4.1-km elevated lane from Qurtaba Chowk to Data Darbar, are to be issued in three days, while tenders for packages five (Data Darbar to Niazi Adda, a distance of 2.5 km) and six (a 5.5-km stretch from Niazi Adda to Shahdara) are also to be allotted within a week, said officials.

The Planning and Development Department has approved the elevated lane to be built in packages three and four. An official said that the Old Ravi Bridge would serve as the BRTS lane for package five and would be closed to general traffic.

Former Lahore Development Authority director general Sibtain Fazal-i-Haleem has been made the project director for the entire BRTS. TEPA Director Mazhar Hussain Khan is project director for packages one and two, TEPA Director Israr Saeed for packages three and four, and Deputy Chief Engineer Saifur Rehman for packages five and six.

Officials connected with the project said that they were currently deciding what land purchases would be necessary for the BRTS route. They said that large amounts of land would be required for packages two, three and four and they anticipated protests in some cases.

An official said that three to ten feet of land from the edge of the road would be required at Ichhra, and around 21 feet at Shama on Ferozepur Road. Land would also have to be bought from the Old Hailey College for package three.

He said that several shops would have to torn down at Qurtaba Chowk, and many shops on one side of Lytton Road. Shops at the corner of Lake Road would also have to be demolished. He said that the construction of packages five and six would be simpler and did not require extensive land acquisition.

TEPA Planning Director Khalid Mehmood Alvi said that it was a good idea to start work on the entire project at once. “It will mean finishing in the shortest possible time and I think the project will be completed in six months or so,” he said.

It would also mean that the project is finished while the PML-Nawaz remains in the government, so that a successor government could not shelve it, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 27th, 2012.

LAHORE: The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) will conduct a detailed study of settlements located within 10 kilometres of major rivers in nine districts.

This was announced by the authority director general Mujahid Sherdil on Saturday during a meeting to evaluate preparations for dealing with floods this year.

He said that the settlements have already been marked on a map with the help of Geographic Information System. An Android-based data entry application has been developed to help in the collection of data regarding the vulnerability of the villages.

Sherdil said that the District Disaster Risk Management Coordinators (DDRMC) would be responsible for the completion of the survey. They will be assisted by district administrations.

Sherdil added that the PDMA coordinators would be given smart phones, using which they could enter data directly.

The smart phones will also be used to take geo-tagged pictures of infrastructure in each village to help create a database of buildings and structures that can be utilised to provide shelter or medical aid to people displaced from other areas.

The coordinators will also collect information on the number of people residing in the settlements, people who would require extra care in case of an evacuation, the number of households and the number and condition of schools, dispensaries, godowns, police check posts and other facilities.

The data will then be superimposed on the topographical layout of the districts to help plan emergency operations in case of a natural calamity.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 27th, 2012.

Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture is a not-for-profit degree awarding institution in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan The college was established in 1989, by a group of architects, designers and artists. It was granted an independent charter by the Government of Sindh in June 1994, thereby empowering it to award its own degrees, and was the fourth private institution of higher learning in Pakistan to be given a university status. As of 2008, IVS was the third highest ranking art and design university in Pakistan.

The degrees offered include a 5 year degree program in Architecture, and 4 year degree programs in Interior Design, Ceramic, Textile and Communication Design, and Fine Arts. The core degree courses are supported throughout the curriculum with liberal arts courses as well.

It was founded by Arshad Abdulla, Haamid N. Jaffer, Imran Mir, Inayat Ismail, Nighat Mir, Noorjehan Bilgrami, Shahid Abdulla, Shahid Sajjad, Shehnaz Ismail, and Syed Akeel Bilgrami. 

Programs:

• Foundation Studies
• Architecture
• Interior Design
• Communication Design
• Textile Design
• Fine Art
• Liberal Arts
• Postgraduate 

Ayaan and Cybil