Lucknow Metro ?

I have been laughing ever since I read about it.

For the reader...
The Mayawati government is planning to start Metro Railway in six of Uttar Pradesh's "big" cities (like Allahabad and Meerut).
The first phase of the project is for Lucknow... the somewhat large capital city.

Considering the condition and need of a metro in exploding metropolitan cities like Hyderabad and Bangalore, why do they want to build it in a city which is, so far, free from prolonged traffic jams and congestion... with wide roads and where the longest commute time is still under an hour?

If the newspaper is to be trusted, "An expert team from Delhi has studied the traffic problem and has concluded that Lucknow desperately needs a metro."

Cities are generally considered for Mass Transit when the population exceeds 4 million.

Now... consider this:

Population of Lucknow ~ 3 million
Longest Travel Time ~ Hardly one hour
Condition and Utilization of Local Mass Transit Buses - Good

Why would anyone want to build a metro here?

The true story might go somewhat like this:
Mayawati wants to secure her votebank for the next elections. Therefore, she is gifting the capital city with a modern form of transport. Experts were called and made to say all that to make the project seem feasible.

Thats right, she will spend crores of rupees meant for "development" on making an already free-flowing traffic system better by building a very expensive metro railway.
This, of course, will add to the arabs of rupees already spent on making the thousand different Ambedkar Memorials across the state.

For the record... The last attempt of introducing mass transit in Lucknow was when Atal Behari Vajpayee introduced Local Railway on the lines of Mumbai here.
Brand new MEMU trains ran around the city throughout the day for at least a month... and were used by none but unmarried couples looking for a private one hour away from the crowd.
Vajpayee did get elected from Lucknow inspite of this disaster gift... (they don't seem to be reading my blog back in Lucknow)

And now the BSP wants to repeat the disaster in the hope of coming back to power again in the next election.

Well... here is a suggestion to the Mayawati government:
If you have lots of money to spare... and you want to develop the state...

There are starving children begging on the streets of Aminabad... Send them to school.
There are farmers committing suicide in the flooded plains of Gorakhpur... Subsidize their Taxes.
Nearly 50% are illiterate in the state... Teach them how to write.
Millions unemployed and live below the poverty line... Give them jobs.
Houses made of mud and no electricity in many villages... Make them habitable.
Pathetic condition of water supply and vital services... revive them.
Growing number of Polio cases amongst children... Cure them.
Eight hour power cuts... Build Dams and Power Plants.

That done... and still left with money to spare... Build us a Metro in Lucknow.
I'd love to travel fast in a developed and prosperous state.