heard lot of criticism of Shahbaz Sharif’s project metro bus. I was told the project saved time and money of many commuters on the route. They have to change 3 buses and pay around Rs 70-80. This project not only reduced this hassle but also reduced the cost to Rs 20.
I’ve traveled in public transport of Karachi and besides being carried like animals in fully depreciated vehicles, I’ve literally seen people fighting for increase in fare by Re 1. This Rs 1-2 increase in fare do have a meaning to sizable population of the country and I’m not talking of gaon dehaat.. talking of Karachi.
So why a project which gave facility to public, saved their time and money was criticized and termed as ‘Jangla bus’.
What is with the psyche of people? do they don’t feel for people’s inconvenience?
Is it just bad because it was done by some shareeka (rival)?
or its something irrelevant because we got chauffeur- driven air conditioned cars?
city like Lahore needs quality public transport..and what shahbaz sharif should be appreciated..
Thats like a gentlemen, but what do you think we this attitude of not appreciating others crept in our society? Did Humayon / Akbar condemned Sher Shah for making GT Road?
i dont think they condemned his good work…actually they continued with some of his administrative innovations…
in old days kings wanted to be remembered so they built palaces and forts…but today :nono:
Don't despair karachiites, shahbaz sharif is on the way. He has promised jangla bus service for karachi too.
sat sat bismillah.. kuch to mushkil kam hogi logon ki. and Karachiites are not ungrateful when someone does something for us. We still respect Mustafa Kamal irrespective of his association with MQM. In fact, we still have some hope in MQM due to such people.
Well shahbaz sharif did development work in punjab. There's a reason why the party still got votes and seats, the only issues I have with metro are: is the project feasible? And is it a good idea to neglect other important departments like health and education for this project?
why it is not feasible and how could we say that they forget other departments like education (Haneef Abbasi built Cardiology hospital in Pindi) and education (Danish school)?
^ 16 Danish schools at the cost of 100s that got closed during the past five years. As far as health is concerned, a period came when the hospitals didn’t have the X-ray sheets and hence X-rays were printed on papers and later when they used up all their papers they’d ask doctors to come and look at computer screens.
Because of 20 rupees flat fee, the punjab government is paying 1 billion rupees in subsidies per month. I don’t know if its feasible especially if similar projects are started in 4-5 more cities.
I think subsidies are better than confiscating money and transferring that to personal accounts. They might have some plan in mind how Metro bus project will continue. Todate, its running and is beneficial to public so public should show a gesture of gratefulness.
For X-rays, I would say atleast they tried an alternate. In Sindh and other parts of the country, you won't find even expire medicines in civil hospitals of the cities and towns.
They show a concern for education in Danish school project, with limited resources and lot of corruption (which everyone consider his right), these all step should be appreciated and if we mock them for their trying to do something, it will not solve the problems in long run
Don't despair karachiites, shahbaz sharif is on the way. He has promised jangla bus service for karachi too.
Oh please no.
If he really understands Karachi's traffic woes then he would rather promise to start mass transit project for the city. PPP/MQM government was unable implement it for "unknown" reasons.
^ i am sure the situation in punjab would be better than Sindh, but then again it's due to competition in punjab. Most development that has taken place in punjab is during the past one and a half years (threat of imran khan). I am sorry but the situation of Sindh won't change until you guys have an alternate as well. I didn't like pervaiz illahi but during his rule many universities were setup, hospitals, free education for kids, free medicines in the hospitals, infrastructure development through out the province, 1122 service and police wardens.
Oh please no.
If he really understands Karachi's traffic woes then he would rather promise to start mass transit project for the city. PPP/MQM government was unable implement it for "unknown" reasons.
Don't want to turn it in political discussion, but ANP got a role in traffic problems we are facing today besides unwillingness of PPP to resolve public issues
my aitraz started on jangla bus when i heard from many Notanki league supporters " Mian saab kay pass paisay khatam hoo gaay jangla bus bannay kay baad iss liay schools aur hospitals kay liay kuch nahen karr sakay"
Jungla bus is a good project but lets not get carried away. One day before the elections LDA building went up in smoke and tragically people died in it and we saw people jumping from the building. Why was something very basic and life saving like fire brigade not given prominence. Simple, jungla bus is a vote winner especially if launched near to the elections while what is needed but is not highly visible is put on back burner even if it is more important than jungla bus. Talk about getting priorities right. In other words the people of Lahore were given rishwat just before the elections to buy votes and boy didnt it work.
The Metro Bus System with its overhead bridges, fancy escalators, shiny interiors, and foofaraw gadgetry seem very much like a jewel in the crown of Lahore and even the Lahori ‘burgers’ seem to approve of it, if the recent election results are anything to go by. :hehe:
Seriously, the Metro buses are too sophisticated to be dismissed as a jangla bus. And perhaps therein lies the problem. I mean if facilitating public transport–and not making a fancy look-at-me statement–was the intention then why not invest gradually on a network of simple, no-nonsense buses that would run on existing roads and have lesser over-head costs. Such a project would have been cheaper and consequently more sustainable in the long run.
Since the Metro system is not a one-time self-sustaining investment that after a while would be on course to recouping its costs, its opportunity cost is too high. The billions that would be needed to subsidize the project year after year in one city could have been better spent IMHO on trying to provide a decent level of health care in public hospitals or on ensuring that government schools have textbooks and are imparting a decent level of education to their students that would allow them to stand on their feet and compete with students from private schools.
But yes, I agree and the point is very much valid that desis don’t seem to appreciate good initiatives, especially if they are unaffected by them. The “Sasti Roti” thing had the potential of making some positive impact in the lives of economically disadvantaged people but it apparently turned out to be more of a scam than a scheme. :hehe: However, I do think Lady Health Workers are the unsung heroes of Pak as they are making a difference in rural and otherwise neglected areas and therefore the previous governments deserve credit for starting the project and also for not scrapping it because it was started by the rival party! Likewise, the Benazir Income Support Programme, while not irreproachable, seems like a commendable initiative, something like the food stamp programs that we have in developed countries like the US, whose impact is geographically dispersed and which helps people from the lowest-income bracket of the country.
Jungla bus is a good project but lets not get carried away. One day before the elections LDA building went up in smoke and tragically people died in it and we saw people jumping from the building. Why was something very basic and life saving like fire brigade not given prominence. Simple, jungla bus is a vote winner especially if launched near to the elections while what is needed but is not highly visible is put on back burner even if it is more important than jungla bus. Talk about getting priorities right. In other words the people of Lahore were given rishwat just before the elections to buy votes and boy didnt it work.
I was giving example of Jangla bus as it was more degraded in the name of ungratefullness. Setting priorities is real issue for all governments in Pakistan. The fire incident in Baldia Karachi also had severe impact and casualties in hundreds, but did we see social society and private sector raising voice against such incidents and taking steps to avoid such incidents in future. No, because besides being ungrateful, our society got this bad habit of labeling governments responsible for each and everything.
Pakistan is in serious economic crisis. And the biggest issue hampering economic growth is lack of power generation. Punjab is especially hurt by this. Thousands of people have lost jobs due to closing industries.
So where does the chief minister put most of his money? No. Not in power generation. He puts billions of rupees in "international standard" METRO BUS SERVICE!
Subsidized Metro Bus Service is not a bad idea. But getting a cheap lunch is not the priority of a drowning man.
