LAHORE, May 2: The Lahore Thinkers and Public Welfare Forum has criticized the unrealistic traffic management in the city and the decision to demolish the Muslim Town-Garden Town bridge.

Speaking at a news conference at the Lahore Press Club on Sunday, forum convener former inspector general of Punjab police Salman Khaliq said there was no justification for the demolition of the bridge to facilitate free flow of traffic along the canal bank.

Thousands of people travelling between the two towns had been compelled to take a detour of five kilometres for crossing the canal at the Ferozepur Road or Punjab University bridges. He claimed nearly 1,500 cars crossing the bridge would have to burn extra fuel worth Rs10 million every year due to its demolition.

He said the ages-old bridge had been demolished clandestinely without taking into consideration the difficulties the people using it would have to face. No public objections had been invited on the proposal before taking a decision on it.

He said the officials proposing the demolition of the bridge should be proceeded against and the bridge should be rebuilt after recovering the cost from them. The former IG was also critical of the designing of the underpasses along the canal.

He said the construction of the Jail Road and Ferozepur Road underpasses on left side of the Canal Bank Road was a proof of lack of common sense among the planners. They visited Paris before designing the two underpasses and decided to build them on the left side overlooking the fact that traffic kept to the right in western countries and left in our country.

"Fast traffic moving in the right lane will have to cross the left lane meant for slow moving traffic for entering the underpasses, and it may cause accidents sometimes," he said.

He said Garden Town, FC College and Shahrah-i-Quaid-i-Azam underpasses were safe for having been built on the right side of the road. He said the government had squandered Rs200 million on the construction of the Shahrah-i-Quaid-i-Azam underpass because it had not solved any traffic problem at all.

Traffic moving on the Shahrah-i-Quaid-i-Azam was four times the traffic moving along the canal. A flyover was required to be built on the Shahrah-i-Quaid-i-Azam for ensuring uninterrupted movement of traffic, but an underpass had been built instead because it was comparatively cheaper.

He was also critical of allowing few u-turns on busy roads like Shahrah-i-Quaid-i-Azam and between Firdaus Market and Gulberg's Main Boulevard which caused traffic congestion at the turning points.

He said the provision of service roads in residential areas was not necessary. Similarly heavy traffic could not be managed properly by widening the roads.

He said there was no justification for switching off traffic signals to facilitate the VIP movement. Continuous functioning of signals was necessary for proper traffic management, and a separate grid should be established for the purpose.

He said the government should review the policy of planting ornamental trees on the roads as these did not generate as much oxygen as indigenous pipal, amaltas and shisham which were planted along the roads in the past.