THIS is what is rare in Lahore. A very visible effort is on these days where some senior government officials and elected representatives belonging to the PML-N are engaging civil society to ensure a smooth run for the already much-celebrated orange train.

Meetings have been arranged where experts have earnestly gone about their job of listing various positive aspects of the project. The expert view is then backed by political assertion. In short, the orange train — which is to be followed by other train lines in various shades — is sold as a most essential scheme this city cannot do without.

The objections are dealt with matter-of-factly. The track is going to be a ‘sleek’ structure, mostly overhead but less than two kilometres of it taking the underground route because of unavoidable reasons. The speed is going to be controlled so that it does not cause any unwanted vibration in the structures around — some of which are more historical in the public eye than others.

Money is no problem since our Chinese friends are so committed to giving this gift to the people of Lahore, and which can, which will, then act as a model for the rest of Pakistan. There may be some increase in the initial estimated costs, but that will not be too much of a burden given the fruits the completion of the project is going to bring us all.

Money for the orange track is no problem since our Chinese friends are so committed to giving this gift to the people of Lahore.

The Punjab government is doing whatever is within its powers to keep the expenses as low as possible. Not only did it succeed in bringing the estimates of the costs down during negotiations in China, it has taken up some basic work within the project itself to suit its budget.

Just how committed the government is to its favourite orange flagship is reconfirmed for the umpteenth time when it emerges that some of the funds kept aside for other, totally unrelated, development work are for the moment diverted to keep the train on track. If the issue of how this betrays a lack of interest in the area the diverted money was originally allocated for does raise its head here, it is quickly smothered by a promise about an overall uplift of the city soon.

The doubters are regaled with vows of how the orange train, with its attraction, has brought the plight of many historical sites in its trail to the notice of everyone, not least among them civil society enthusiasts and the government, which now plans to carry out some preservation work. The provincial government will now be able to undertake this job, something which it couldn’t earlier do because protecting heritage was a federal subject then.

It is true that the distance between the orange track and the historical sites is less than what is prescribed in the rules but the government is honestly adhering to its right which allows it to do it with permission of the relevant authorities.

What else is there to be cleared? Yes the issue of paying compensation to the people who come in the way of the train, some of whom have been occasionally protesting the advancing bulldozer, complaining it will force them to begin life anew. That, we are told will be taken care of, not least, we are told with emphasis, because the chief minister desires a fair payoff for these affected families.

If the worst come to the worst, the protagonists have a ready answer for those who talk about priorities. Others may want to know what options of cooperation in other areas — health and energy, for instance — were our rulers able to discuss with our benefactors. For the moment, the brief answer is: they had interest in offering us this train. Are you saying we should have refused it?

And if this does not put the ‘try-and-convince-me’ sceptics in their place, the next one sets off on the destination for the irrelevant, last nail neatly driven and all. Talk about people’s right to choice. What more proof of popularity for these projects do you need than the evidence recently furnished by the PML-N’s sweep of Lahore in the local government election?

The ultimate argument, one which must clinch it for the government, is of course tied to the reputation of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. His accomplishments are referred to, some of which cannot be denied by the most obdurate, ‘main na manoon’ types. It is obvious that it is no one else but the gentleman who is known for pursuing development causes with an unmatched penchant who is bringing the bus home.

The ultimate message is that his judgement cannot be faulted. Together with the proud statement about just how much popular support there is for the Sharifs in Lahore, this exercise in bringing the few dissenters in the city round to seeing the advantages of the bus is rather uncalled for. It is visible purely in aid of God knows which set of people and where.

The exercise can only be meaningful if the standard sets of answers carefully stuffed up the sleeves of these officials are kept away for the time being. It can only be meaningful if an earnest debate, which ought to have been ideally held before the inception of the project, is allowed to belatedly take place. No changes to the scheme indicate a government that is unwilling to listen to unofficial, independent ideas. This is a futile exercise then.

It is not about nostalgia — where a desperate, submerged Lahori soul would cry out for the lifting of all this concrete overhead for a clear look at the kite-laden sky. It is about engaging all groups to give them a sense of belonging. That is not likely happening in a city taken up fast by the ghosts let loose in the name of the majority , leaving no space for other, equally entitled citizens and leaving so many of us clinging to our own one and half brick-long spaces.

The writer is Dawn’s resident in Lahore.

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2015