A day after state CM Parkash Singh Badal gave nod to Rs 10,300-crore metro project, city residents feel it is a cruel joke cracked on them. Right from the problem of untimely long power cuts to illegal diesel autos polluting the city, from traffic chaos to shortage of CNG, the government has heaps of problems to solve before aping New Delhi and making castles in the air.
Rajesh Goyal, a businessman from the city, says, "This is sheer stupidity. Power is not there for homes and industries, space is not there for parking, roads are in pathetic condition and autos are polluting the city like anything, and all the government is thinking is to waste time and money on massive project like metro."
He added, "If the government is so fond of aping Delhi, then do it correctly. Remove diesel autos and bring in CNG autos first and open CNG stations to reduce pollution in city like Delhi did before introducing metro. Will metro run on water or diesel?"
Another resident, Jagmanpreet Kaur, a computer science student, says, "This project is just on papers. There is no parking place and they are talking of metro. Already the roads are dug up, and if digging begins for underground metro, God knows what will happen to the congested city. Bridges and flyovers are lying incomplete, how can we think that bridges for metro will be made on time?"
Mayank Sethi, an electronics engineer, satirically says, "We don't need a metro. I request the government to please solve problems of power cuts. If they have so much surplus power that they can afford to run a metro, so that I can sleep peacefully at night."
{{/usCountry}}Mayank Sethi, an electronics engineer, satirically says, "We don't need a metro. I request the government to please solve problems of power cuts. If they have so much surplus power that they can afford to run a metro, so that I can sleep peacefully at night."
{{/usCountry}}Another resident, Salil Uppal, adds, "What a joke! Lakkar Bridge has been lying incomplete for the past seven years. The city bus service has started after missing several deadlines and that too just 13 buses out of 50. Let's see how metro gets complete in five years."
"I suggest the CM that we can also invent a system of running metro with biogas, which is abundant in Punjab, if there is shortage of power for metro," says Harjinder Singh Khalsa jokingly.