LAHORE: Civil society organisations and residents of houses in range of the Orange Line Metro Train’s (OMT) route on Friday staged a protest at Charring Cross against the OMT’s route, design and techniques being applied for its construction. Residents of Kapoorthala house, Bengali Building, Jain Mandar, Chouburji, Hanjarwal, Samnabad, Railway Colony, Shalimar Town, Daroghawala, GT Road and Ali Town were present in the protest while other communities including environmentalists, architects, transgender and disabled also participated to show their solidarity with the affectees and to raise their voices to save the people and heritage of Lahore, which is at stake due to the construction OMT track. The basic demand of the protesters was to stop the project immediately. They were of the view that the government must review the construction of the project by taking onboard the people of Lahore. Participants carried placards and chanted slogans, criticising the design of the project. “We totally disapprove and reject the OMT project. Although we are in the favour of Punjab Government’s initiative to provide fast, speedy and cheap transportation for people, but not at the cost of the residents and historical monuments,” said a protestor. Another protestor said the government has wrongly estimated that only 400 people would be affected by the project, as Kapoorthala House alone has more than 8,000 residents. The train would pass through the densely populated areas of Lahore and would create problems not only for the residents but also to the shopkeeper in the city, the protestors added. Talking to Daily Times on the occasion, South Asia Partnership Pakistan (SAP-PK) representative Farzana Mumtaz said when the train would pass through the entire city several times a day, the rush of people could prove dangerous, considering the overall law and order situation. “The project is estimated to cost Rs 1 billion of people’s money.” According to economists, the total cost on the project is $1.75 billion, while the government has taken $1.6 billion as loan from China, out of which, $1 billion would be spent on the material that would be purchased from China. “The government would have to pay an interest of $15 billion on this amount, which it would certainly impose on the general public,” Farzana Mumtaz added.