IT was like a jamboree of twins — Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif, a transport project and the PML-N, Pakistan and Turkey, the centre and Punjab.

They all contributed to a proud moment celebrated with typical fanfare. The prime minister declared the launch of the Rawalpindi-Islamabad metro bus service as a gift of democracy.

For many others, it was an occasion to hail the PML-N’s efficiency in coming up with projects that address easily identifiable issues. The party has been asking the question and it did so one more time on Thursday: what’s wrong with picking up high-resolution projects and undertaking them with trademark flourish?

Know more: Amidst Metro bus fanfare, Sharjeel Memon promises free WiFi for Karachi

As the experts debate the pros and cons, one thing has been established. The bus system that covers 23km and is expected to facilitate the travel of more than 130,000 commuters every day will have a huge impact.

It will influence the relationship between the party and the people. Everyone knows this — from those who want the same emphasis on a mass transit system in their respective areas to PML-N opponents who refer to the latest edition of the metro bus as a waste of precious resources and as an example of the rulers’ fetish for imposing arbitrary solutions.

Some problems have yet to be addressed as the PML-N government replicates in the twin cities the feat it had earlier accomplished in Lahore.

As in the latter’s case, the new metro bus service is essentially a Shahbaz Sharif creation. The need for consultation with stakeholders was not felt in the provincial capital and was ignored in the present case too.

Surely, stakeholders would have wanted to participate actively in the development project that should ideally have been routed through local government. Such considerations, unfortunately, do not concern those who refrain from entrusting public works to, or sharing credit with, others. They would be even less inclined to think about the negatives given the envy the latest venture has caused among the less privileged near and far.

There are calls that capture the longing for a mass transit system in other parts of the country as well. Perhaps the loudest of these calls, not surprisingly, come from the largest and most urgently deserving city, Karachi.

The densely populated megalopolis must find a fast track to a mass transit system — one that is not simple copycat stuff but which is evolved and crafted after long and hard considerations of the requirements of its inhabitants.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2015

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