THE Punjab government has its own way of carrying out “development projects” which are sometimes criticised for being irrational or incurring inflated costs. This time the government is set to complete one of its projects at the cost of historical campus of Government College University, Lahore.

The Punjab government is currently constructing a 32-kilometre route for the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) in Lahore and has bulldozed almost every structure on the dedicated route of the public transport scheme. Among other structures, the BRTS is all set to rip through the 148-year old GCU campus, the historical Loggia Gardens, to be precise. The gardens are part of the varsity’s girls’ hostel located in front of the Punjab Civil Secretariat and will be replaced by a bus terminal that is part of the BRTS project.

The BRTS route’s drawings also reveal that varsity’s famous Oval ground would also be encroached upon by the project, though to the extent of a few feet. It will, however, damage the shape and beauty of this historical ground which has hosted several international hockey matches as well.

The Old Ravians as well as Old Ravians Union – two bodies comprising those who have been studying at the prestigious institutions -- have strongly reacted to the plan of encroaching upon the GCU’s historical campus.

The leaders of the both bodies have sent requests to all those at the helm of affairs for incorporating changes in the plan and have even warned of agitation to save their alma mater. They are also making emotional appeals to PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif urging their intervention and reminding them that GCU had also been their alma mater.

The Rapid Bus Terminal plan, apparently finalised without consulting the varsity administration, will level famous Loggia Gardens and devour up to 50 meters (up to the varsity’s Tower Road) of the GCU land. A GCU spokesman says the varsity has received no official intimation regarding the plan.

The GCU’s only girl hostel, located opposite Punjab Civil Secretariat, would also be demolished for another bus terminal.

The hostel is accommodating some 300 female students from Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir and far-flung areas of Punjab.

The boarders have also expressed their grave concern over the plan, apprehending that parents of many of them won’t allow them to continue their studies if the GCU hostels were demolished. “Should education of some 300 girls from across the country be comprised for a bus terminal only,” asked a boarder.

Environmentalists say the educational institutions need peaceful environment and the establishment of the bus terminal will expose the classes to noise pollution and disrupt the calm of the varsity. “Questions are being raised on the environmental study of the project,” a senior faculty member said.

Interestingly, it is learnt, the Higher Education Commission has recently approved some Rs100 million for the perseveration and renovation of the historical GCU campus.

Explaining the historical value of the Loggia Gardens, a senior faculty member said the place had been repeatedly mentioned in the official anthem of GCU prepared by Nazir Ahmad Music Society on the occasion of 125-year celebrations of the university.

He said despite the fact that the GCU campus was getting congested for some 8,000 students as well as faculty and staff members, the varsity administration had never considered the historical gardens for construction of any structure. “The GCU campus is a historical site and its successive administrations had always preserved its gardens and beauty,” he added.

The Old Ravians Union executive body said the GCU was a great institution that produced luminaries like Allama Muhammad Iqbal, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, N.M Rashid, Patras Bokhari, Nobel Laureate Prof Dr Abdus Salam, besides hundreds of other literary figures, politicians, jurists, sportsmen and scientists. The ambiance of this historical institution should not be ruined for a bus terminal, it said. The bus terminal could be conveniently shifted to some other site like Nasser Bagh. It also condemned the plan to use the site of the varsity’s only girls’ hostel for the RBTS.

The ORU secretary said all eminent Old Ravians had great love for the Loggia Gardens where they had studied and spent best time of their life. Urging Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to intervene in the matter, Mr Cachharr said, “We highly appreciate Shahbaz Sharif’s steps aimed at providing modern and convenient transport service to the citizens of Lahore, but it should not be done by ruining a historical seat of higher learning”.

Meanwhile, Old Ravians, including former Punjab chief secretary Pervaiz Masood, federal secretary (housing) Kamran Lashari, former Punjab IG Sadaat Ullah Khan, former minister Zia Haider Rizvi, eminent singers Shafqat Amanat Ali, Waris Baig and others said they would form a human chain around the GCU if the government tried to encroach upon even a single inch of their alma mater for a bus terminal.

They said that Old Ravians would not allow anybody to deface the 148-year old educational institution for a bus terminal which could be conveniently shifted to places like Nasser Bagh, District Courts and Saleem Model High School.

Stating that thousands of Old Ravians have written letters to the Punjab government, ORU and GCU administration against the plan to demolish GCU girls’ hostel and Loggia Gardens, the Old Ravians representatives have urged the chief minister to issue orders for shifting the bus terminals to some other suitable sites.

Though the threat to the GCU’s physical infrastructure has incited  considerable reaction, very few people are cognizant of the varsity’s academic decay. It should equally be a matter of concern that the prestigious university has only three full-time regular professors, has three functional faculties but no dean and its vice-chancellor office is currently being looked after by a retired and re-hired professor because the VC is on an official visit to Europe, leading a position holders’ delegation. – mansoormalik173@hotmail.com