—Photo: Express News
Lahore: CBD Punjab has introduced the concept of “Blue Road” for the modern regeneration of Lahore city, remodeling of Kalma Chowk underpass and experimental “Blue Road” has been built in CBD Punjab Boulevard.
Experts believe that blue coating on roads can reduce the heat by 50%. However, some activists who work for the protection of the environment say that this is only an effective solution to reduce the temperature to deceive the eyes is to plant more trees.
The Central Business District Development Authority (CBD) has introduced the boulevard concept during the remodeling of the Kalma Chowk underpass in Lahore. Experimentally, a road line has been coated blue for a few kilometers.
Director Project Management CBD Muhammad Asif Iqbal said that blue asphalt has been used in “Blue Road”, blue color has been added to the tar and coated on the road. Pushes back, due to which the temperature in this road and nearby area can drop by 10 degrees Celsius.
According to Muhammad Asif Iqbal, this concept was first introduced in Qatar with the aim of modernizing the city’s infrastructure and improving the quality of life of its residents. Not only is the blue road visually appealing but also helps absorb heat and reduce air pollution, the blue road will help revive the deteriorating air quality index of the provincial capital.
Environmentalist Aleem Butt says that the temperature can be reduced by using colors because some colors are more capable of reflecting heat instead of absorbing it. The blue road in Lahore is being monitored as it is a pilot project. How much difference does the temperature of the blue road make compared to the normal road?
He said that the CBD has conducted this experiment on a very short stretch of road which will not yield better results. Better yet, an entire road is converted to a boulevard so that monitoring and comparison can be done better.
According to Ahmed Rafi Alam, an activist leader of Lahore Bachao Movement and an environmental lawyer, the concept of Blue Road is just a trick of the eyes. The Kalma Chowk underpass was built at the cost of crores of rupees, where cement and gravel have been used freely, only an area of 700 feet on the road. People are being fooled by coloring it blue.
He said that the effective way to reduce the temperature is to plant more trees.
It should be noted that the CBD authorities also admit that the construction cost of the boulevard will be higher than that of a normal road, but there is no word yet on how much the difference will be.
Ordinary citizens also seem unsatisfied with Blueroad’s claims of temperature reduction.
Anbreen Fatima, a student of the Department of Environment at Government College University, Lahore, says that if this method was so beneficial, then this technique would have been used in modern housing schemes in Pakistan. Looks like a trim plan.
Another student, Maheen Amir, said that the same way we get the roofs coated with different colors and materials to protect them from heat, it is possible to reduce the heat of the roads in the same way, but it will be a very expensive task, in a country like Pakistan where the infrastructure is old. It seems impossible to use such an expensive technique there because it is prone to breakage.
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